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Spanish doctors told to prescribe cheaper generic drugs

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  • 25-08-2011 11:45am
    #1
    nice1franko
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,300 ✭✭✭


    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/23/spanish-doctors-cheaper-generic-drugs
    In a move designed to save €2.4bn (£2.1bn) a year, Spain's socialist government has passed a law forcing doctors and pharmacies to prescribe generic drugs rather than the more expensive brand names sold by pharmaceutical companies.

    Spanish doctors will now have to complete prescriptions giving only the details of the active ingredients of the medicine that their patients must take, as well as the dose and format. The drugs are paid for partly by the state and partly by patients.

    Shouldn't we be doing this too?
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    #2
    irishh_bob
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,700 ✭✭✭irishh_bob


    nice1franko wrote: »
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/23/spanish-doctors-cheaper-generic-drugs



    Shouldn't we be doing this too?


    cant see the GP,s here giving up thier ( ahem , kickbacks ) golfing holidays too easily , prescribing branded drugs is very rewarding for the good docs


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    #3
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    The whole medicine cabinet of prescription drugs is a sorry mess here. Needs a total overhaul. Fewer drugs should be subject to an outrageously price sub and the use of generics need to be increased rapidly. There is a long held theory that all the Irish based pharma companies are effectively telling the government what to do in this respect but I suspect they don't actually need to lean on the dept of health at all.


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    #4
    ceegee
    Registered Users Posts: 2,233 ✭✭✭ceegee


    Tbh theres not really a huge saving to be made at the moment in Ireland given the respective prices of branded vs generic. For a while there the brand name drugs were cheaper than the "generics" in Ireland. Even now the price difference is nowhere near what it was 5 years ago.

    Also worth bearing in mind that generic substitution isnt always suitable for some meds


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    #5
    nice1franko
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,300 ✭✭✭nice1franko


    irishh_bob wrote: »
    cant see the GP,s here giving up thier ( ahem , kickbacks ) golfing holidays too easily , prescribing branded drugs is very rewarding for the good docs

    I know and this is exactly why govt. needs to step in. It's the taxpayers money that is being spent on exorbitant prices for chemicals that are identical and readily available much more cheaply.


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    #6
    nice1franko
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,300 ✭✭✭nice1franko


    ceegee wrote: »
    Tbh theres not really a huge saving to be made at the moment in Ireland given the respective prices of branded vs generic. For a while there the brand name drugs were cheaper than the "generics" in Ireland. Even now the price difference is nowhere near what it was 5 years ago.

    Also worth bearing in mind that generic substitution isnt always suitable for some meds
    Granted, the savings won't be anywhere near as dramatic as in Spain but this is one of the many "dripping taps" we have in the country and the sooner we fix it the more savings we see.


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    #7
    meditraitor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,207 ✭✭✭meditraitor


    Hold your horses boys, reference pricing should be a step in the right direction......

    see the proposal here
    http://www.dohc.ie/publications/pdf/reference_pricing_generic_substitution.pdf

    I heard from a reliable source that this might be only a month or 2 away.....


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    #8
    smtdos
    Registered Users Posts: 135 ✭✭smtdos


    Ye must understand that the HSE/DOH are afraid of the IPHA.

    Rock the boat by cutting the ex manufacturer cost of drugs and they risk a mass pullout of the pharma companies.

    Hence, the HSE have been chasing pharmacists, dentists and doctors for savings. Much easier targets with less lobbying power.


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    #9
    meditraitor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,207 ✭✭✭meditraitor


    smtdos wrote: »
    Ye must understand that the HSE/DOH are afraid of the IPHA.

    Rock the boat by cutting the ex manufacturer cost of drugs and they risk a mass pullout of the pharma companies.

    Hence, the HSE have been chasing pharmacists, dentists and doctors for savings. Much easier targets with less lobbying power.

    I doubt the HSE are afraid of anyone, they really are too ignorant of realities to be afraid of anyone.....

    The HSE is rotten from the top to the bottom,

    You forgot to add wholesalers to that list by the way, also been fleeced, especially the PI companies who were not even consulted on the price reductions, actually only advised the day before the reductions came into force....


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    #10
    smtdos
    Registered Users Posts: 135 ✭✭smtdos


    Yeah alot of the PI's were caught badly alright.

    Still a cut to ex manufacturer prices would solve alot of the HSE's issues seeing as the related markups would be reduced as a knockon.


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    #11
    meditraitor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,207 ✭✭✭meditraitor


    smtdos wrote: »
    Yeah alot of the PI's were caught badly alright.

    Still a cut to ex manufacturer prices would solve alot of the HSE's issues seeing as the related markups would be reduced as a knockon.

    Has to happen alright, September/early october should be fun for all involved.


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