Drug price disparity: Where to buy?

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - You shop for the best price on gas and on your home. What about your prescription drugs? Most don't because they believe generic drugs mean cheaper or that you only have to pay your standard co-pay with your insurance, right? Wrong.

An I-Team 8 investigation is uncovering what big drug companies and some pharmacies don't want you to know.

Amy Peak is a pharmacist and director of Drug Information Services and Academic Advising. She says even on the generics there is such a "huge, huge" difference on pricing. So huge, I-Team 8 launched an investigation to uncover a rare behind the scenes look inside the drug pricing of a multi-billion dollar industry.

"Just because you are getting generic doesn't mean you are getting a good deal, Peak says.

I-Team 8 compared drug prices by calling different pharmacies but also through the Red Book, the source known only to insiders of wholesale prices. Drugs are distributed through wholesalers to pharmacies, and then to you.

For example, the generic version of Lamisil, used for toe fungus and often not covered by insurance, has a cost difference that was alarming. Big differences between the same drug at different pharmacies.

One of the generic drugs cost $36 and the same product was $1,300 at a different pharmacy.

"The individual wholesalers make different contracts, deals with different companies. It depends on who they make the best deal with," says Bill Shinkle, who does the buying for Low Cost Rx, a locally owned pharmacy.

That's why he shops around among the wholesalers before he buys. As an independent, the savings is passed to the customer.

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Drug price disparity: Where to buy?