Cheaper prescriptions thread [No imports discussion]

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2RockMountain wrote: »

I wonder if they do Parcel Motel?

I've gotten non prescription stuff from them to pm.

former total

2RockMountain wrote: »

I agree, one model is not universally cheaper - always worth shopping around.

But I'm not so sure about this 'talk to your local pharmacist' stuff. We shouldn't have to go begging for decent non-rip-off prices. I had got the products from the local pharmacist from time to time, and he was even dearer than Boots.

So it's all to Healthwave now...

You don't have to beg. Most pharmacists will be delighted to give you the best deal they can if it means winning a new customer or keeping an existing one.

Ireland is one of the cheaper countries in Europe for prescription medicines now. I'd be very surprised if anyone is really saving that much via Healthwave now.

As you can maybe tell, I used to be a pharmacist but don't practice any more.

vicwatson

former total wrote: »

You don't have to beg. Most pharmacists will be delighted to give you the best deal they can if it means winning a new customer or keeping an existing one.

Ireland is one of the cheaper countries in Europe for prescription medicines now. I'd be very surprised if anyone is really saving that much via Healthwave now.

As you can maybe tell, I used to be a pharmacist but don't practice any more.

You can certainly tell by that post if you don't mind me saying - i know of one example where in the local pharmacy a mates tabs are 27€ a box and are 7.95€ with Healthwave, no brainer really.

former total

vicwatson wrote: »

You can certainly tell by that post if you don't mind me saying - i know of one example where in the local pharmacy a mates tabs are 27€ a box and are 7.95€ with Healthwave, no brainer really.

If you can get the details of the meds I'd be very interested to see why that is.

As to your first comment, that wasn't really called for.

L1011

Jonathan Nervous Muscle wrote: »

I've gotten non prescription stuff from them to pm.

Be careful about what is non-prescription in the UK vs here though.

For instance there's an anti-spasmodic marketed for IBS that is sold in petrol stations in the UK (general sale) but is prescription here. Illegal to get that sent to you, Parcel Motel or not. We have an extremely limited range of OTC products and a ridiculously limited range of general sale.

on_my_oe

former total wrote: »

You don't have to beg. Most pharmacists will be delighted to give you the best deal they can if it means winning a new customer or keeping an existing one.

Ireland is one of the cheaper countries in Europe for prescription medicines now. I'd be very surprised if anyone is really saving that much via Healthwave now.

As you can maybe tell, I used to be a pharmacist but don't practice any more.

I found the opposite; I visited Allcare, Boots, McCabe's and Lloyds to get a handle on my prescription costs. I take folic acid, methotrexate, lyrica and escitalopram, and I was hitting €140 mark every month. Health wave have brought it down to around €70. Allcare were the worst, and gave me a lecture about supporting my local pharmacist...

2RockMountain

former total wrote: »

You don't have to beg. Most pharmacists will be delighted to give you the best deal they can if it means winning a new customer or keeping an existing one.

That's my point - I ordered the stuff in the local pharmacy, and the price they charged me was higher than Boots, and way higher than Healthwave.

former total wrote: »

Ireland is one of the cheaper countries in Europe for prescription medicines now. I'd be very surprised if anyone is really saving that much via Healthwave now.

Don't forget the other parts of their service, like 6 free courier deliveries each year.

_Tombstone_

former total wrote: »

You don't have to beg. Most pharmacists will be delighted to give you the best deal they can if it means winning a new customer or keeping an existing one.

Ireland is one of the cheaper countries in Europe for prescription medicines now. I'd be very surprised if anyone is really saving that much via Healthwave now.

As you can maybe tell, I used to be a pharmacist but don't practice any more.

I on phone so hard to check proper but it looks like the Irish people are still getting rode big time,

http://www.finfacts.ie/Irish_finance_news/articleDetail.php?Prescription-drugs-most-expensive-in-US-Ireland-a-top-spender-400

On RTE news there it said 70,000 (?) are buying drugs online due to prices here so greedy pharmacy's are looking to slash 500million off the country's annual drug spend to try and compete.

Nothing's changed.

caviardreams

The difference between 'normal' pharmacies is massive. A couple of weeks ago I was checking the price of 30 Lidocaine patches:

Boots €112.50
Lloyds €133
An independent pharmacy €133
Another independent pharmacy €158

Some difference - would love to know the price that healthwave charge - must inquire if they do them.

zagmund

I've found a huge price differential for most medication that I've priced with Healthwave and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

My G.P. prescribed 10 of a particular tablet for me recently and as you might do when feeling unwell, I just went to the nearest pharmacy and picked them up there. They cost over €1 a tablet. I got a months renewal from the GP and went to Healthwave where they were €4.95 for the entire month (or just about 17c per tablet). There's no two ways of looking at that - the local pharmacy is absolutely creaming it on that.

I've seen similar with someones asthma medications. Branded for over €60 a month, then that dropped to just over €30 a month when they switched to generics, and then that changed to €4.95 a month when they swapped to Healthwave.

I won't get in to the local pharmacy discussion thing, that's not a discussion for BA, but I will say that Healthwave is absolutely a bargain.

z

Scottie99

L1011 wrote: »

It is illegal to have prescriptions delivered by post from outside the state - you may get away with it but if caught don't expect the products or a refund.

Yes I know but they're is ways around the system.

L1011

Scottie99 wrote: »

Yes I know but they're is ways around the system.

Unless its physically carried in by someone else*, its not a 'way around', its just continuing to be lucky.

*who then might be in trouble for possession of a prescription medication without a prescription!

Boards bans the discussion of most illegal actions but, for some reason, not this.

quadrifoglio verde

caviardreams wrote: »

The difference between 'normal' pharmacies is massive. A couple of weeks ago I was checking the price of 30 Lidocaine patches:

Boots €112.50
Lloyds €133
An independent pharmacy €133
Another independent pharmacy €158

Some difference - would love to know the price that healthwave charge - must inquire if they do them.

Off the top of my head Boots aren't making much more than eight Euro on that box of 30
Rare to get a discount on them as well

odyssey06

former total wrote: »

Ireland is one of the cheaper countries in Europe for prescription medicines now. I'd be very surprised if anyone is really saving that much via Healthwave now.

Do you have any supporting information whatsoever for making this statement?
My experience, and that of every other poster this far here, suggests your statement is entirely wrong.

Davy

L1011 wrote: »

Boards bans the discussion of most illegal actions but, for some reason, not this.

The thread was to help people save some people shopping around, that's why the thread was created. Posters were warned before about illegal importation, so closing this thread if going to be used to go outside the law.

TheZPPanda

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

Boots policy. They charge 6 dispensing fees for six months.
Allcare charge one fee whether you get all six or one month and no markup. Lloyd's as far as I know have a similar pricing scheme as allcare. Not sure about the other chains/buying groups like haven and total health.

Honestly though go into your local pharmacy and ask them what they can do it for. Might have better chance of a discount if it's owner is present as opposed to a chain

The Boots I worked in would only charge one dispensing fee for 6 months. It doesn't seem to be consistent across the board though unfortunately.

The_Minister

I've had an inhaler be €120+ in one pharmacy....and €80+ in another

Prescription medication is the most important area to shop around in

on_my_oe

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/my-medication-costs-144-a-month-in-republic-but-i-can-get-sixmonth-supply-for-50-in-north-34750761.html

Darragh O'Loughlin, head of the Irish Pharmacy Union, said "The prices in the Republic are coming down but realistically they will never be as low as or lower than the UK because our market is too small. They are buying for 60 million people and the HSE is buying for 4.5 million."

The price of generic drugs in Ireland is now reaching the European average.

"Realistically, if we can be average price, it is as much as we can expect," he added.

jwwb

^^ I don't understand why we feel we have to run our own Medicines Board. Much better value to be had throwing ourselves under the wing of our nearest neighbour

pjproby

Irish Pharmacy Union might be better explaining to us why they forbid their members from advertising their prices!

angeldelight

pjproby wrote: »

Irish Pharmacy Union might be better explaining to us why they forbid their members from advertising their prices!

The IPU don't do any such thing, not sure where you heard that?

pjproby

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/medicine-costs-ireland-2649649-Mar2016/

'Predictably, our vision was met with huge resistance from an industry unfamiliar with competition. Following our launch in 2014, pharmacists complained to the pharmacy regulator that we were publishing our prices online and on leaflets. Why did pharmacies not want their customers to know what they are being charged? For the first time, consumers had a benchmark and could make comparisons. The retail pharmacy sector was trying to prevent transparency and was to my mind, toxic.'

extract from an article by Shane O'Sullivan of Healthwave published in The Journal

angeldelight

Ah ok - the pharmacy regulator is the PSI - Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. They're in charge of ensuring pharmacies abide by the many laws and regulations they are subject to and one area that is very highly regulated is advertising

pjproby

My apologies for confusing the two- Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland are not acting in my interests when they regulate advertising.

odyssey06

on_my_oe wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/my-medication-costs-144-a-month-in-republic-but-i-can-get-sixmonth-supply-for-50-in-north-34750761.html
The price of generic drugs in Ireland is now reaching the European average.

Strange that the article gives absolutely no source for this 'fact'... it's not even in inverted commas, suggesting its source is not one of the persons quoted in the article. So what is the source of this extremely dubious statement?

The closest equivalent I can find is referenced here, and states:
http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-drugs-european-prices-957750-Jun2013/

"The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IHPA) says market research carried out by an independent firm clashes with other claims that Irish customers pay significantly more for patented medicines than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. The study claims that when the prices of 200 drugs – which account for 99 per cent of the on-patent segment of the pharmaceuticals market – were compared in nine European countries, Irish prices were roughly equivalent to the average. Crucially, however, the study examined the ‘ex-factory’ price of the drugs paid by commercial pharmacies, and not the price paid by everyday customers at a pharmacy."

former total

odyssey06 wrote: »

Strange that the article gives absolutely no source for this 'fact'... it's not even in inverted commas, suggesting its source is not one of the persons quoted in the article. So what is the source of this extremely dubious statement?

The closest equivalent I can find is referenced here, and states:
http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-drugs-european-prices-957750-Jun2013/

"The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IHPA) says market research carried out by an independent firm clashes with other claims that Irish customers pay significantly more for patented medicines than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. The study claims that when the prices of 200 drugs – which account for 99 per cent of the on-patent segment of the pharmaceuticals market – were compared in nine European countries, Irish prices were roughly equivalent to the average. Crucially, however, the study examined the ‘ex-factory’ price of the drugs paid by commercial pharmacies, and not the price paid by everyday customers at a pharmacy."

It's true.

That article from the Journal is from 2013, which pre-dates the introduction in 2014 of "reference pricing" for the most common off-patent medicines. Prices have come down massively in the last couple of years for these.

For on-patent medicines, prices are set (and have always been set) based on a weighted average of prices around the EU.

Pharmacist fees and mark-ups have been slashed in recent years too.

Some meds are still very expensive, very much so, but costs to the patient are way below what they were when I was working as a pharmacist.

pjproby

so can i now compare prices on-line are am i obliged to depend on a nod and wink attitude from pharmacists as to what they will charge me?
we all know the answer of course.

quadrifoglio verde

pjproby wrote: »

so can i now compare prices on-line are am i obliged to depend on a nod and wink attitude from pharmacists as to what they will charge me?
we all know the answer of course.

The pharmacy regulator is against the advertising of prices for prescription drugs
The pharmacist is not allowed act outside the regulations set down by the regulator

Don't blame the pharmacists, blame the bloody regulator

screamer

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

The pharmacy regulator is against the advertising of prices for prescription drugs

Why? ......?.?

odyssey06

former total wrote: »

It's true... Some meds are still very expensive, very much so, but costs to the patient are way below what they were when I was working as a pharmacist.

I have yet to see any independent study that indicates that this is the case... in fact, said study is conspicuous by its absence.
I've seen some prices come down in Boots, and big dents from places such as Healthwave etc but not in local pharmacies.

Are there particular medicines you have observed as dropping in price across the board?