Key Post: Pharmacy prices

pharmacist

Are you a pharmacist by any chance Rainyday ?

My point is quite simple: prices are high in Ireland, too high in comparison with many other European countries.

Prices vary from pharmacy to pharmacy.

If I knew that the generic Clonmel Chemical product was 1/3 of the price of the market leader brand written on the scrip I would buy the cheaper one in many instances.

If I was lucky enough to have a medical card I wouldn't have to think of making a choice because my experience is that the more expensive brand is always chosen by the GP.
 
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Wouldn't pharmacies have a price list on a PC anyway? How do they track their sales etc, otherwise?
 
Re: .

Gerry, I've no argument with you about prices being high. I'm struggling to get the following two points through to you;

1) Making a price list available to customers will involve additional costs, which will ultimately be passed on to customers by way of even higher prices.
2) There is a simple, cheap way of achieving your objective (which would not incur any additional costs) by simply asking the pharmacist at the counter or by phone what the cost is going to be beforehand.

Hi AP - Systems designed for use by staff and systems designed for use by the great unwashed are very different.
 
ah come on

"Making a price list available to customers will involve additional costs, which will ultimately be passed on to customers by way of even higher prices"

- so what. Making Insurance companies & insurance brokers disclose their charges & commissions DID NOT increase prices to the public it REDUCED them. Competition reduces prices. Look at the effect B&Q have had on the Irish DIY market. It gave a kick up the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language to Woodies & Atlantic who have improved their stores beyond belief.

"There is a simple, cheap way of achieving your objective (which would not incur any additional costs) by simply asking the pharmacist at the counter or by phone what the cost is going to be beforehand."

- Why should someone have to do that ? Imagine going into a SPAR and having to ask them how much something is going to be beforehand - they have many many products OR come to think of it, an Insurance Company OR a doctor's surgery OR a Bank OR a restaurant OR a pub OR a hotel OR a travel agent OR an online store OR a bookshop. The list is endless.

My experience is that prices are not the same in all pharmacies - I bought the same 2 antibiotics from 2 different pharmacies within a mile of each other within say 5 days of each other and there was a difference of about 15% (Nothing else was bought at the type of dispense).

I believe pharmacies are cartels and I would welcome disclosure and regulation. BTW pharmacies also improved their lot when Boots moved in.
 
Re: ah come on

Imagine going into a SPAR and having to ask them how much something is going to be beforehand - they have many many products OR come to think of it, an Insurance Company OR a doctor's surgery OR a Bank OR a restaurant OR a pub OR a hotel OR a travel agent OR an online store OR a bookshop. The list is endless.
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The list of irrelevant comparisons is endless. Perscription products in pharmacies are not available over the counter for obvious reasons. You have to have a perscription to get the product. It makes no sense to insist on having a visible price list for every possible drug (and the wholesalers have tens of thousands of products available on their product lines). Would you expect your bookshop to have a self-service price list for every possible book that they can order from a bookseller for you? Would you expect the travel agent to have a visible price list for every hotel in the world, and every airline in the world and every B&B in the world etc etc etc. It is just pointless.
- Why should someone have to do that ?
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Simple - because it's not practical to go the other way. Your solution would place a huge bureaucratic workload on pharmacy staff with negligible benefit. How many customers would bother to wade through vast swathes of pricing information to find their own perscription (and get the strength & unit size right)? It is just not going to work.

Just ask - a simple and cost-effective solution.
 
Ask for a generic!

When buying expensive perscription medicines, you should always ask if they have a generic version.
For example, if you are looking for a months perscription of Losec, it will cost ~70 euros for a box of 28.
However, if you get the generic Losamel, it costs ~45 euros for a box of 30.
and it's made in Clonmel, so you are buying irish!
It is the exact same stuff.
They have to dispense the generic if you ask for it, even if the branded drug is names on the scrip. They will even tell you what the generics are if you ask.
 
Re: Pharmacy prices

If price is important to you it is essential to shop or phone around. Prices in chemists vary depending on their location, whether they provide a late night or 24 hour service and what additional services or facilities they provide. Also depending on what the market will bear, so if consumers are not price conscious they will end up paying higher prices.

One reason the same drug can cost different amounts for different quantities is the pack size sold by the manufacturer. Some tablets are usually prescribed for a specific period of time (5 days, a week, 30 days, whatever). If for some reason you are prescribed a regime that does not correspond with the standard pack size it may cost you more. For example if the pack size is 5 days and you need 6 days, you may end up paying almost as much as someone who needs 10 days because the chemist may not sell the remainder of the second pack and may charge you accordingly. I don't know if this explains the anomaly zag identified.

If you are worried about the cost of drugs be certain to tell the doctor who is prescribing for you. There may be a lower cost drug available for your condition. In a similar way to cars you can have a Fiesta or a Merc- both will get you from A to B and while the Merc might be nice, maybe all you really need is a Fiesta. Be honest with the doctor prescribing for you. Most people are willing to pay for an expensive drug if their doctor feels this is essential for them. Similarly, most doctors will respond sensitively if they know money is tight and will try to prescribe something less expensive when it is likely to give a satisfactory result.

Alternatively, your doctor may be able to prescribe a generic variant. Pharmacists are not allowed to substitute a generic drug unless the doctor prescribes generically. This means using the chemical name for the drug instead of the name of one of the brands of drug sold. Some types of drug treatments require that you always use the same brand, so you should not switch to a generic drug without making your doctor aware that you plan to do this. For the majority of patients generic drugs are a good alternative. You should be aware, however, that generic drugs are only available after the patent on a new drug has run out, so you will not get the most modern drugs available generically.
 
Re: Pharmacy prices

Quote: "Look at the price of a visit to Gp in other countries"

It's free to go to my gp!


I live in Co. Down...
 
prices

I only noticed the difference in prices when my nearest pharmacy did not have the drug prescribed by my gp and I went elsewhere and found out that they were cheaper than I had been used to paying.
 
Re: pharmacist

Can I give a mention to Hamiliton Long chemists by O'Connell Bridge in Dublin?

They will not charge you over the 78 euro limit if you have already reached it - they will hand over the prescription, without charge, if you have exceeded this monthly limit (even including previous purchases from other chemists). They will do the parerwork and claim the refund later.

Now that's a truly excellent service that deserves a mention.
 
Re: pharmacist

They will not charge you over the 78 euro limit if you have already reached it - they will hand over the prescription, without charge, if you have exceeded this monthly limit (even including previous purchases from other chemists). They will do the parerwork and claim the refund later.
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Don't all pharmacists do this, provided you have your DPS card?
 
Re: pharmacist

My usual UK-based online supplier for contact lens solutions seems to be offline at the moment, so I was forced to go to an Irish pharmacy. The cost was over twice what I've been paying for the same solution online (after taking currency charges into account).
 
On line pharmacies

Have tried a couple of online US pharmacies where there is undoubtedly great value and in one particular case a medication that I cannot get here (under prescription). However everytime I go to place an order I find they don't ship to Ireland.

Has anyone had any luck with online pharmacies - if anyone has a web address that'd be great. I am particularly interested in Minocin or it's generic equivilant Minocycline.

Thanks
Roy
 
Re: On line pharmacies

How do you know that you're getting the right quality/strength from an unregulated online pharmacy?
 
Re: On line pharmacies

The sites i was looking at require a full prescription from our doctor. Do you have any reason to feel that such online retailers provide substandard product. From what I have been reading on the web such providers of generic products are required to go through the same PDA licencing requirements.

Roy
 
mail order

The supply of medicinal products by mail order is currently illegal in Ireland.
 
Re: mail order

To be honest I don't really care if it's illegal, sounds like condoms being illegal or pornography a number of years ago. The medication in question whihc has been prescribed for one of my kids I am informed by my local pharmacist "not available" becuase of supply chain problems. In fact my pharmacist tells me this is like a 3rd world country because the supply of quite a lot of fairly basic medicines is so poor.

Beside it seems to me that a lot of Irish people use mail order and I haven't seen any of our top athletes hauled off by the boys in blue.

Roy
 
mail order

It's not the purchaser that's committing the crime - it's the supply that's illegal and the supplier who could be prosecuted. Hence the reluctance of companies to supply to Ireland. You need to find a supplier who's not aware of the legislation (or doesn't care, or thinks the risk of prosecution is slight).
This law is likely to change in the future.
 
Re: On line pharmacies

Do you have any reason to feel that such online retailers provide substandard product.
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No specific reason, though perhaps I've been influenced by the regular supply of emails from dodgy characters offering V1AGRA etc.
 
Re: On line pharmacies

Ah I see, maybe you should just avoid some of those more lively sites. What I was looking for was far more conventional stuff........

Roy
 
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