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By: Chris Stevenson, a BrownWatch Contributor

My former editor and good friend Joan (who once ran a Black paper out of Upstate NY, and now resides in Alabama) is always emailing information to me, most of which I delete, some I retain, and fewer-still I use as a subject matter for my columns. This one she pulled from the CounterPunch.org website involved some insight on details of a prescription drug scandal that most of us suspect, but few of us know any particular details on. Any movement to bring about Universal Health Care begins with reforming the various prescription drug programs that are currently terrorizing elderly and sick Americans.

The Devil's greatest weapon is his ability to make you believe he doesn't exist, as the saying goes. The government's greatest weapon can be assumed to be; that some of the nations problems are too complicated for it to solve. One such problem that some seem to take exception to is the prescription drug price gouging epidemic. Several researchers have cited statistics and reports that seems to make a good case that a radical change is not only needed, but very much in reach, if the powers that be truly want it.

Recently a couple of experts narrowed down a specific symptom as to why that pill for your sinus pain costs more than most illegal narcotics, and that's a headache in itself. Budget Analyst Sharon L. Davis of the US Department of Commerce, and Budget Analyst Mary Palmer of the Bureau of Economic Analysis Office of Budget and Finance released a 8/12/04 chart on common consumer prescription costs measured against the cost of the active ingredient, and the markup price differential as it would appear for 100 tablets for each bottle:

Celebrex-nothing to Celebrate about-100 milligrams (mg) at a consumer price of 100 tablets for $130.27, cost of general active ingredients $0.60, percent of markup: 21,712%. Claritin-10mg, consumer price: $215.17, cost of general active ingredients, $0.71, percent of markup: 30, 306%. Keflex-250mg, consumer price: $157.39, cost of active ingredients, $1.88, percent markup: 8,372%. Lipitor-20mg, consumer price: $272.37, cost of general active ingredients: $5.80, percent markup 4,696%. Norvasec-10mg, consumer price: $188.29, cost of general active ingredients, $0.14, percent markup 134, 493%. Paxil-20mg, consumer price: $220.27, cost of general active ingredients, $7.60, percent markup 2,898%. Previcid-30mg: $44.77, cost of general active ingredients, $1.01, percent markup 34,136%.

These are just seven examples of the greed factor of the pharmacies that have consumers screaming for Prozac (not really). For a more complete list, or the markup of your particular prescription drug, contact sdavis@rothwellfigg.com. While some-like Davis and Palmer-may point fingers at the pharmaceutical industry, others have long blamed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the high prices because they charge the industry a lot for the prolonged time they take to approve a drug. This was a problem that was supposed to have been solved long ago, when some lawmakers came up with the idea of monetary reward in exchange for swift approval of new drugs that could save lives. I call them a monetary reward, but technically it's a user fee, which is actually an incentive for decreased review time (not to mention finance increased FDA staff) called the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). The measure was enacted back in '92, while review time was relatively short (2.7 years for approved drugs in 1990-93, and 1.7 years for drugs approved in '94 and '95), it's the overall approval timethat's killing people. Literally. CSE's Michael F. Cannon stated back in '97 "For years the FDA has delayed the approval of life-saving therapies, forcing patients to suffer and even die unnecessarily while they wait for new medicines."

The average overall review time before PDUFA, according to a report by Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), during the '60's: "patients waited 8.1 years for FDA approval of a new drug. By the early '90's patients were forced to wait 15 years." In '97 the one time application fee per application was projected to be $233K (from $100K in '93), it's embarrassing for this country to lag behind Canada and even Cuba's health care measures when the US is capable of so much more, if but for the republicans stigmatizing universal health care as hostage under their outdated "socialism" label. The prescription drug industry has not just been making a killing in User Fees, but tax savings as well. According to the Congressional Research Service, they only paid 59% of the average federal tax rate paid by all major industries from '93-96. They only paid a rate of 16.2%, compared to 27.3% for other major industries.

One more reform that could pave the way for national healthcare is a major change for National Health Insurance. A study last January by researchers from Harvard Medical School, and Public Citizen state that health care red tape cost the US almost $400 billion. NHI feels $286 billion of that can be saved on paperwork alone: "enough to cover all of the uninsured and to provide full prescription drug coverage for everyone in the US." This includes administrative costs, employee benefits, hospitals, nursing homes, etc. Next we'll examine how prescription drug companies, FDA and NHI can assist Medicare and still profit.

Pointblank can be read at www.voiceoffreedom.com <http://www.voiceoffreedom.com> and Black and alternative papers across the country, email comments to Stevenson at pointblankdta@yahoo.com