Pharmacy prices Shop Around!

gearoid

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I have a regular purchase to make in the chemist - Artelac 10ml eye drops. It is an OTC product i.e. no prescription required.

Some example of the variations involved.

Pharmacist at the KCR in Kimmage charges 4.90
Doc Morris Rathmines 4.55
Boots Rathmines 6.20 (or 6.40 not sure which so went for the lower).

The usual price charged in pharmacies is between 4.53 to 4.57.

The pharmacist at the KCR is persistently higher. I enquired as to whether they were "dual pricing" but received no satisfactory answer.

The Boots price could be a glitch but it is seriously out of the normal range.

The reimbursement price on the HSE website is 2.55 euros or thereabouts.

Mad price differences so it pays to shop around!
 
hi, I agree on shopping around. but for what it's worth I popped into KCR pharmacy yesterday and got a few products and was very surprised to see the prices....one product bio-oil was half price and then 30% off Elave products and nappy bags were 1.99 for 250 and my usual chemist charges 2.99 for 200. I was very happy coming out...this time
 
I second this. Prices can vary significantly.
My recent experience is with generic paracetemol.
In a local pharmacy, a box of 24 paracetemol capsules by one maker (red box; sorry can't be precise at the moment) costs just €0.65. Another box of generic paracetemol by another maker (blue box) costs €1.95. I remember both manufacturers are Irish. The pharmacist told me the difference is because the manufacturer of the more expensive box has imposed a minimum retail price on each product.
 
The pharmacist told me the difference is because the manufacturer of the more expensive box has imposed a minimum retail price on each product.
Isn't it illegal under competitions legislation for a manufacturer to set a retail price?
 
My recent 28 day perscription was filled by the pharmacist by suppling 30 day quantity. He said that the price was a little higher (+€8) than usual because of this!
When I opened the bag at home the tablets were in a different box and different blister pack inside. Both the outer box and the inner blister pack had an English language 'description' stuck onto the 'original' Italian version.
I paid €118 and the box had " Prezzo €: 46.73". :mad:
I'm not too good at Italian but my opinion of what happened would possibly breach posting guidelines #7! ;)
So...
I would give a qualified approval for the Manufacturer to set the retail price...
 
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We don't buy anything in pharmacies south of the border any more.

We can get 6 months prescription meds in the north for the same price as 1 month in the south.
 
I bought a packet of 5 Lempsip Max in my local chemist last year for €5.69 and then checked the price in Boots which is actually 2 doors down the street and saw the exact same product for €3.69. I couldn't believe the price difference! I went back to the first chemist and asked for a refund and told them the reason, they gave the refund and I never bought OTC products there again although I buy some other things that may be on special offer (shoewr gel, toothpaste etc) ....Defo pays to shop around chemists. BTW I am now getting 600mg generic Ibuprofen in Spain, less than €2 for a box of 40 tablets!!! Miles cheaper than the Nurofen price here...
 
We don't buy anything in pharmacies south of the border any more.

We can get 6 months prescription meds in the north for the same price as 1 month in the south.


Can your use a prescription by a doctor in the South or do you need to go to a GP in the North?
 
Can your use a prescription by a doctor in the South or do you need to go to a GP in the North?

Definitely::)
You really do need to shop around these days -

I was, up until recently, paying an astronomical amount for my monthly supply of drugs, purchased in Dublin.
Check out the comparison on the euro amount below, to the sterling equivalent -

Neurostil 100mg(x60)
Euro €31
Sterling £5

Simvastatin 40mg(x28)
Euro €30
Sterling £5

Protium 20mg(x28)
Euro €21
Sterling £5

I am saving just over €800 per year on just those meds alone!! -
Pharmacies up north do take Irish prescriptions.
 
Can your use a prescription by a doctor in the South or do you need to go to a GP in the North?
If you go to Boots in the North, they will check on their computer to see if the Irish GP is 'EU registered'. If they are, they will fill the prescription without a problem.

The GP also has to write the generic name of the drug on the script, because if for example they write 'Coversyl' and that particular brand is not in stock at the Pharmacy in the North, they cannot dispense the generic version of that brand.

I went once to Boots and then to a Pharmacy in Newry - McKeever's on the bridge, Mill Street, Newry near the Buttercrane Shopping Centre. They didn't check to see if the GP was registered and dispensed without any questions.

Don't go to Boots in the Buttercrane Shopping Centre in Newry, it's not a dispensing outlet.

If you're prescribed unusual drugs or unusual dosages, you may need to fax the script to the Pharmacy a few days before you go to collect the items as they may not have them in stock.
 
I had a learning experience in pharmacy price differences in the last few weeks. Have a prescription for a strong painkiller to deal with a knee injury, it had a repeat on it so I could fill it three times in total.

30 Caplets Painkiller X

Pharmacy 1 - Baggot Street Area €10.52
Pharmacy 2 -Grafton Street €10.86
Pharmacy 3 - Blanchardstown €9.07

Pharmacy 3 was almost 20% cheaper than 2. Next time I'll put up with the pain in work and fill my prescriptions nearer home!
 
We buy all our medication overseas (Enteric Aspirin and painkillers in Walmart in the States, Blood Pressure and HypoThyroid stuff in France or Spain, Osteoporosis tabs in France or Spain...) The savings pay for the price of the travel. We checked this week with the local pharmacy just to make sure the prices here were still so high - 1 month's supply of Atenelol for €15, 3 months supply in Spain for €3. No brainer!
 
I went up to Newry last year and got some basic stuff soo much cheaper. Allergy tablets that cost about 7/8 euro down here - were about GBP3. Calpol for children was about half price. Headache tablets a fraction of what they are down South. I didn't buy any prescription medication. But the price difference very noticable.
 
The Cheap North!

we regularly visit Northren Ireland to see relatives, not only are most medicines cheaper there so are most other goods
unfortunatly so are income rates and social welfare rates, teachers, social service workers and professionals ( ie our relations ) all make much less that their southren counterparts, so it seems like deflation in all sectors of both employment and retail are required for us to be the same as our northren counterparts.
as it is most of us seem quite happy to get our high wages/ welfare here and spend it up north
 
Sorry gegser the huge difference in pharmacy costs cannot be put down to the usual culprits, our whole healthcare system is designed to keep the vested interests happy.
why aren't generic medicines prescribed? why are the prices that the HSE pays for medicines way higher than in the rest of the EU? if Mary Harney had bothered herself to actually do something for the people of Ireland it would have been quite easy to immediately implement these changes.
 
Pet Meds?

My friend's dog has just been diagnosed as having a heart complaint, and has been told that he needs a tablet a day, trouble is the meds are costing over E 30.00 per week. They've had significant costs x-rays, vet fees etc (I know now why pet insurance is getting so popular) but is there anything they can do? Might sound like a daft questions but he is a beloved family pet and is quite a young dog - 4 yr old lab. Any suggestions on cheapest animal meds greatly appreciated.
 
TV3's Midweek - Report on buying prescription drugs in the North

Hi everyone!

My name is Elaine and I'm a researcher with TV3's 'Midweek' show, which is broadcast on Wednesday nights at 10pm on TV3. We are currently off air but we will be returning for a new series on September 19th.

For our September 19th show, we will be looking at the high costs of prescription drugs. We will be travelling to the North to compare prices and we would very much like to interview a person who travels North to purchase their prescription drugs.

Would you or someone you know be interested in taking part in our report on the issue or in the studio discussion that we will be having on September 19th?

We would like to speak to you about why you choose to travel North for your prescription drugs and the savings that you make by doing so.

If you would like to discuss this further, it would be great if you could email me your contact details to [email protected] and I will contact you at a time that is convenient for you.

Many thanks,
Elaine.
 
I have a repeat prescription x 6, my local pharmacy will only give 1 month at a time, I assume this will be the same in the North which means I will have to make 6 journeys.
 
I have a repeat prescription x 6, my local pharmacy will only give 1 month at a time, I assume this will be the same in the North which means I will have to make 6 journeys.

No, I've brought a six-month script to an NI pharmacy and got six months supply. You might need to let them know beforehand to make sure they have enough stock.

The limitation here seems to be something to do with the various Govt schemes.
 
Thanks for that, It cost €100 per month for my wife and myself, I will take prescriptions up next time I go to my son's
 
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