Pharmaceuticals Profitability makes Walmart feel Sick

Compare the revenues and profits of these companies : (Data from Fortune 500 2010)

Medicynical Note: Using profits as a percent of total revenue the pharmaceutical industry may well be the most profitable sector in the Fortune 500. For example, Walmart offers a paltry 3.51% of revenue as profit, Exxon 6.77%, Apple a mere 15.6%. Drug companies and these are not the foreign based big earners garner Johnson and Johnson 19.8%, Pfizer 17.6%, Merck 47.2% and Abbott 19.1%, Lilly 19.8%, Bristol-Meyer Squibb 49.05%.

You gotta feel sorry for the poor drug companies. Guess who pays?