Chemist pricing

280special

Okay, someone explain this to me...

A well known painkiller, box of 24, E7.75 in one chemist in Dundalk, E8.45 in another Chemist in Dundalk ?

One is a smaller independant, the other a larger multinational...Quess which was cheaper ??? The smaller shop !

But this whole drug pricing thing is nuts anyway !

locum-motion

Quite simple - there is no collusion on prices between pharmacies.

Everyone is free to charge as much or as little as they wish/think they can persuade people to pay.

Nesta99

12 paracetemol were 12pence when in London recently! Pricing here is mad. Im asthmatic and the inhaler costs €180 per month(€120 i pay on drugs scheme).

locum-motion

Nesta99 wrote: »

12 paracetemol were 12pence when in London recently! Pricing here is mad. Im asthmatic and the inhaler costs €180 per month(€120 i pay on drugs scheme).

Nesta,

You make 2 separate points, neither of which is related to the OP.

Your first point: Drugs are cheaper in other countries than here.
Yes, this is true. The price an Irish pharmacy sells something at depends on the price they can buy it at. If it were possible for the pharmacy to buy paracetamol cheaply enough that they could sell it for 12p and make a profit, they would do so.

Your second point: Some drugs are very expensive.
Again true. Some drugs are expensive, some drugs are cheap. Same as some cars are expensive, some are cheap. Some houses are expensive, some are cheap. Some foods are expensive, some are cheap.

Neither of these points are in any way related to the OP's question, which was why 2 shops sell the same product for two different prices.

280special

locum-motion wrote: »

Nesta,

You make 2 separate points, neither of which is related to the OP.

Your first point: Drugs are cheaper in other countries than here.
Yes, this is true. The price an Irish pharmacy sells something at depends on the price they can buy it at. If it were possible for the pharmacy to buy paracetamol cheaply enough that they could sell it for 12p and make a profit, they would do so.

Your second point: Some drugs are very expensive.
Again true. Some drugs are expensive, some drugs are cheap. Same as some cars are expensive, some are cheap. Some houses are expensive, some are cheap. Some foods are expensive, some are cheap.

Neither of these points are in any way related to the OP's question, which was why 2 shops sell the same product for two different prices.

Well actually I did say that the drugs pricing here was mad so what Nesta said is relevant.

Your point about the price of cars,Houses, and foods however, misses one very, very vital point...The painkillers were identical, the exact same product so therefore the price should be pretty close, not the sort of price differential that is evident.

In addition would you not expect a large mutinational to be able to buy at a lesser price than a small shop based in one small, rural town in Ireland ?

Nesta99

locum-motion wrote: »

Nesta,

You make 2 separate points, neither of which is related to the OP.

Your first point: Drugs are cheaper in other countries than here.
Yes, this is true. The price an Irish pharmacy sells something at depends on the price they can buy it at. If it were possible for the pharmacy to buy paracetamol cheaply enough that they could sell it for 12p and make a profit, they would do so.

Your second point: Some drugs are very expensive.
Again true. Some drugs are expensive, some drugs are cheap. Same as some cars are expensive, some are cheap. Some houses are expensive, some are cheap. Some foods are expensive, some are cheap.

Neither of these points are in any way related to the OP's question, which was why 2 shops sell the same product for two different prices.

Who is a bit touchy today! Is there a reason why irish pharmacies cannot use the same suppliers as those used by Uk counterparts therefore offering similar pricing? I am well aware of the the fact that some drugs are more expensive than others and while i am sure you didnt intend to patronise in you post i was simply observing that somthing as basic as an inhaler to treat one of the most prevalent diseases in this country is an expensive item. Im sure that there must be a generic version of this GSK product by now that would be cheaper and save taxpayers and my own money. Maybe not but where possible shouldnt doctors/pharmacies off cheaper generic versions if available? Not entirely relevant to the OP but certainly enough in the ballpark when considering inconsistancies in pricing here.

You a Locum pharmacist?

locum-motion

280special wrote: »

Well actually I did say that the drugs pricing here was mad so what Nesta said is relevant. ?

Well, OK. Nesta's points were relevant to that specific part of your post, but not to your overall point, I think.

280special wrote: »

Your point about the price of cars,Houses, and foods however, misses one very, very vital point...The painkillers were identical, the exact same product so therefore the price should be pretty close, not the sort of price differential that is evident. ?

That part of my answer was aimed at Nesta's point re: Inhaler, not yours re: painkiller. Read in that context, my post makes sense.

280special wrote: »

In addition would you not expect a large mutinational to be able to buy at a lesser price than a small shop based in one small, rural town in Ireland ?

One would have thought so, yes. Perhaps they did. And perhaps they're indulging in a bit of gouging.
Or perhaps one of the staff in one or other of the pharmacies had a bad day with the pricing gun and stuck on a wrong label.

In relation to your original point about the price difference: if I were you, I'd be more worried if the prices were identical in every outlet. That could indicate cartel-like behaviour (like the Citroen dealers were at a few years ago).

locum-motion

Nesta99 wrote: »

Who is a bit touchy today!

Sorry, didn't mean to be. Was on iPhone, not computer, so was trying to be brief!

Nesta99 wrote: »

Is there a reason why irish pharmacies cannot use the same suppliers as those used by Uk counterparts therefore offering similar pricing?

Yes. Irish pharmacies must purchase products that are licenced (or more precisely, Authorised) in Ireland from wholesalers who are licenced in Ireland. In both cases, the licences are obtained from the Irish Medicines Board (With a very limited number of exceptions: i.e. if a doctor chooses to prescribe a product that doesn't have a comparable counterpart product licenced in Ireland, or in the rare cases where a product receives a pan-European licence from the European Medicines Evaluation Agency).
The particular product you mentioned (12 Paracetamol for 12p) will be one that isn't available here. I bet if you look at the pack, it has a PL number on it, but will not have a PA number on it. PL's (Product Licences) are British. PA's (Product Authorisations) are Irish.

Nesta99 wrote: »

I am well aware of the the fact that some drugs are more expensive than others and while i am sure you didnt intend to patronise in you post i was simply observing that somthing as basic as an inhaler to treat one of the most prevalent diseases in this country is an expensive item.

As far as inhalers go, there's basic (Ventolin and its generic equivalents), not quite so basic (Becotide and its generic equivalents) and then newer stuff (Flixotide, Seretide, Spiriva, Onbrez, Serevent). Newer stuff is more expensive.

Nesta99 wrote: »

Im sure that there must be a generic version of this GSK product by now that would be cheaper and save taxpayers and my own money.

I don't know exactly which product you're referring to (see next paragraph for why not). But I've got a rough-ish idea, and No, there isn't a generic equivalent available. When a company invents a new drug, they get a patent on it. Patents last approximately 15-20 years. Some of those years are gone before the drug ever makes it past testing, so there might be 10-15 years remaining by the time the drug makes it to market. Bringing a new drug to market is very very very expensive and requires tons & tons & tons of regulatory paperwork, which is also expensive (I once heard an estimate of 150 articulated lorries to carry the paperwork required for one new drug to get approval from the FDA). If a company has spent billions of dollars, and it only has 10-15 years to a) recoup what they've spent and b) make some profit, then on-patent drugs will remain expensive.
I'm at work at the moment, so I can look at prices. If you are being quoted €180 for one single inhaler of even the newest and most expensive of the above items, then there's something wrong. Of all the commonly used inhalers, the most expensive for a single pack in this pharmacy is less than €110. Now, that being said, there are some very complicated drugs used for nasty stuff like advanced CF or COPD that run into €1,000s, but I don't think you were referring to them.

Nesta99 wrote: »

Maybe not but where possible shouldnt doctors/pharmacies off cheaper generic versions if available?

I assume you mean 'offer'. Yes. And we do. Virtually every pharmacist I know has an agreement with their local GP that they will generically substitute where possible and appropriate. I certainly do.

Nesta99 wrote: »

Not entirely relevant to the OP but certainly enough in the ballpark when considering inconsistancies in pricing here.

We have touched on three issues in this thread so far:

1. Same product, same town, different prices.
2. Drugs are cheaper abroad.
3. Some drugs are expensive.

All three of these issues are completely separate from each other. It's very difficult to answer the public's questions when posters keep going off on unrelated tangents.

Nesta99 wrote: »

You a Locum pharmacist?

And finally, No, I'm not a locum pharmacist. I used to be, when I joined boards.ie, hence the name. Now I'm a pharmacist who isn't a locum.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Prices of goods often vary between stores. Potatoes are half the price in our local shop than Dunnes or Tesco. What is the big deal about the price difference and how is this a Louth Forum item? I just don't see what point is being made by the OP.

dudara

This isn't a Consumer Issue -thread closed

dudara