Finding out prescription drug prices

IsaacWunder wrote: »

Is there generally much variation in price of prescription drugs from pharmacy to pharmacy, or even from town to town?

Yes, hugely.

IsaacWunder wrote: »

It all seems very anti-consumer.

And cartel fixed prices wouldn't be?

It seems that either there's some vague loophole or the pharmacists are completely ignoring
SI639/2002

Goods prices have to be displayed

IsaacWunder wrote: »

Ah here, this forum is very snappy. And you're a mod here to boot? I'm only trying to get some help with a sensitive issue. The last thing I want to do is to walk into the pharmacy tomorrow to find out I don't have enough money for the drugs I need. Things are bad enough without having my head chewed off.

Pharmacies charge a different handling cost , which is why the prices vary from pharmacy to pharmacy.

You have the following options :

• Buy 6 months supply and you save a fortune
• Buy 3 months supply and you still save a fortune
• If money is really tight , ask your pharmacy to dispense 14 days instead of the usual 28 days .
• Apply for a medical card

Whatever option you choose , don't be without your meds .

OP - if you're anywhere near the border, go and buy your meds there. My father saves a fortune getting generics in Derry.

Phelange wrote: »

Patient safety overrides everything else. Having all medication on display and priced would lead to higher risk of stealing especially the like of controlled substances which must be kept locked up under legislation

While not required to lock up material by legislation Maplin copes with not being able to display everything by having a brochure available in store and of course Argos has brochures and/or computer terminals .

Even if you couldn't have every drug listed it could be a lot more transparent with most prescribed listed at least .

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm a pharmacist. You can't advertise prescription medication. So the brochure is out the window. Just ring and ask the pharmacy is the easiest solution.

Surely pharmacist could have price list in pdf displayed in a digital photo frame.

Greenmachine wrote: »

Surely pharmacist could have price list in pdf displayed in a digital photo frame.

There are roughly 12000 potential items. The price varies depending on how much you're buying at any given time.

Do you suggest they install a few cinema screens?

There is absolutely no way a pharmacy can advertise prices. They could advertise their pricing formula but the average person wont have the foggiest idea what it means, and considering even those who do usually won't have the cost price either.

IsaacWunder wrote: »

Is there any way to find out how much a prescription drug costs? Not accounting for drug payment scheme, etc.

This may help:

http://www.hse.ie/eng/staff/PCRS/

The Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) is part of the HSE, and is responsible for making payments to healthcare professionals, like doctors, dentists and pharmacists, for the free or reduced costs services they provide to the public. So, when you visit the doctor using your Medical Card, or when you are only charged the monthly threshold amount for your medicine under the Drugs Payment Scheme, it is the HSE PCRS who pays the doctor and pharmacist on your behalf.

http://www.hse.ie/eng/staff/PCRS/Online_Services/

Here you can find a list of all the reimbursable items.

Greenmachine wrote: »

12,000 items. Where is that number coming from? If that was the case the average medicine would have maybe 100 users in a year.

The IPU product file.

There's over 10,000 IMB licenced products:

http://www.hpra.ie/homepage/medicines/medicines-information/find-a-medicine/results?query=%&field=

As well as unlicenced medicines, medical devices, dressings, etc etc

There are specific medicines that have over 50 different preperations - dosages, pack sizes, manufacturers, etc - and yes, there are medicines that are prescribed to that few people a year.

former legend wrote: »

This is a joke? The price list would be a couple of hundred pages!

A photo frame might not be the best, but it could have been an excel list or something. It might be hassle for a chemist to create but if I was a pharmacist and DID have very competitive prices I would want people to know about it.

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm a pharmacist. You can't advertise prescription medication. So the brochure is out the window. Just ring and ask the pharmacy is the easiest solution.

What is actually classed as "advertising"? if people ring and ask it seems they are legally able to inform people about prices, I was going to suggest emailing in the enquiry, I have done this for non-prescription items.

Are they allowed email info on prescription prices? if they can email can they enquire about 2 products? or 12,000 products? Or is the pharmacy not allowed disclose a price list unless its specifically requested? In which case it seems there may be a loophole. i.e. customer says whats the price of these 12,000 items which are cut & pasted, and the pharmacist sends his list of maybe 1,000 which he does have easily at hand.

rubadub wrote: »

A photo frame might not be the best, but it could have been an excel list or something.

Better than Excel, legislate for all pharmacies to be obliged to share their prices with a HSE /NCA price comparison website.

We need to address the opaque nature of pharmacy pricing.

MYOB wrote: »

You'd have to have a very lax definition of "hassle"

Well if I was one of the many rip off merchants I would not go to the hassle of doing it. As I said if I was the cheapest I would want people to know it and so might go to the expense of doing it -as it could pay for itself by resulting in far more sales once word gets out.

It does not really need to be that complicated, you are basically letting a customer in behind the counter and enter in the quanities and other details etc into the computer and it will do the rest automatically, just as I expect most do now. However instead of repeatedly asking the pharmacist over and over for different variations they could do it themselves, and if the pricing formulaes were somewhat exposed it might become evidient what the best way to order actually is. -Just like the 100's of sites I already buy from.

I order from an electronics site with over 500,000 parts in stock, with non-linear price breaks,delivery charges clearly listed, and alternatives (similar to generics), discount structures etc, all customer friendly. I am surprised some larger pharmacy with nothing to hide is not doing the same, even if only on the more popular ones. Unless it really is illegal.

The delivery fees are analgous to dispensing fees, I very often buy more at once online to save on these costs, it I was just given a blank price and had to repeatedly ask in greater quantities it would do my head in.

MYOB wrote: »

A pharmacy that's cheapest for one month may not be cheapest for buying 6 months

OF course not, I would shop around just like I do on the 100's of sites I visit now.

JTMan wrote: »

Better than Excel, legislate for all pharmacies to be obliged to share their prices with a HSE /NCA price comparison website.

I would not like to see this, let the rip off merchants stay away. Comparison sites are open to abuse by the companies who may find ways to appear the cheapest. In another thread someone mentioned a rip off pharmacy who always had 1 item really cheap, as they knew it appearred in some papers comparison.

Also it would be a huge task to keep up to date, I can't think of any other retailer forced into doing this. However if it really is illegal to do it I think it should be changed.

rubadub wrote: »

Well if I was one of the many rip off merchants I would not go to the hassle of doing it. As I said if I was the cheapest I would want people to know it and so might go to the expense of doing it -as it could pay for itself by resulting in far more sales once word gets out.

It does not really need to be that complicated, you are basically letting a customer in behind the counter and enter in the quanities and other details etc into the computer and it will do the rest automatically, just as I expect most do now. However instead of repeatedly asking the pharmacist over and over for different variations they could do it themselves, and if the pricing formulaes were somewhat exposed it might become evidient what the best way to order actually is. -Just like the 100's of sites I already buy from.

I order from an electronics site with over 500,000 parts in stock, with non-linear price breaks,delivery charges clearly listed, and alternatives (similar to generics), discount structures etc, all customer friendly. I am surprised some larger pharmacy with nothing to hide is not doing the same, even if only on the more popular ones. Unless it really is illegal.

The delivery fees are analgous to dispensing fees, I very often buy more at once online to save on these costs, it I was just given a blank price and had to repeatedly ask in greater quantities it would do my head in.

There's no functionality in any of the three dispensing system families in use in Ireland to provide such an export. Hence what you are proposing is a manual process.