NormanH Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 As I have posted before, one of the reasons for the deficit in the Budget for Health in France is the enormous profits made by the drug companies.Not only are too many medicines prescribed in France, but the price of the 'generic' versions (those with the same active principle, but not a brand) is far higher than in the rest of Europe:"leur prix moyen est de 15 centimes contre 12 en Allemagne, 10 en Espagne et seulement 7 au Royaume-Uni"Pour les statines une unité standard de générique vaut 28 centimes en France contre 18 centimes en Espagne, 12 en Allemagne, 5 centimes seulement au Royaume-UniIf the prices were the same as elsewhere " les gains pourraient atteindre près de 500 millions d'euros en s'alignant sur l'Allemagne, et un milliard d'euros en s'alignant sur le Royaume-Uni." Source Le Point http://www.lepoint.fr/economie/les-medicaments-generiques-scandaleusement-trop-chers-30-09-2011-1379224_28.phpNot the fault of the patients who are sometimes made to feel guilty for using the system they pay into! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Is that article an oft-repeated story, or do they just take a long time here to wake up to what happens outside the country?About 20 years ago we checked the price here of a french manufactured drug which was prescribed in Spain, as it was quite expensive there, and were amazed to find the price was almost double in France.And I'm sure the rip-off has been going on even longer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Even the basics are expensive, ie aspirin and paracetamol. I have to say that I personnally don't have a french friend who knows that Efferalgan / Doliprane is Paracetamol and the dangers of taking too much. I have had friends suggest that I alternate efferalgan and doliprane when I have been unwell. Which I would do with aspirin and paracetamol if I had a fever as well as all the other stuff I do when I have a fever, ofcourse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkkent Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I can find aspirin and paracetamol in Tesco or Sainsburys. I cannot find them in Geant or Leclerc. What I can find in French supermarkets are scores of preparations which claim to make my stomach flatter or my brain more active or my breasts more pointed (well, if I were that way inclined, perhaps) or whatever - all products which are palpably useless but which pander to some supposed insecurity. Aspirin and paracetamol can only be obtained from a pharmacy as far as I am aware. No appropriate mechanism for forcing down their cost. [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Leclerc did recently try to get the right to sell certain basic items like paracetamol, cough and cold mixtures etc on their shelves but the campaign seems to have run into the sand. The pharmacists lobby is perhaps very powerful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I remember having to buy some Ibuprufen soon after we moved to France and I think it cost something like 10 euros for 12 pills of 200 mg each![:-))] Would probably have been cheaper to have had gold injections for the pain....When walking in Spain, however, I had a hell of a shock for a situation quite the opposite. It was only a couple of euros for 20 Ibuprufen 400 mg strength. Then, they also sold them in 600 mg strength and, wait for it, one thousand milligram strength![+o(]All sold over the counter, no prescription needed......I was so horrified I think I had a spluttering fit and someone had to slap me on the back so that I could get my breath back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 [quote user="idun"] I have to say that I personnally don't have a french friend who knows that Efferalgan / Doliprane is Paracetamol and the dangers of taking too much. [/quote]Yes you do, you have me!!! I never take any "antalgiques" without checking which it is, what the dosage is, whether it is compatible with medical conditions and other medications, etc... In fact, I did so much research on various painkillers that I was able to pass on some information to my rhumatologue (about a combined ibuprofen+codeine tablet - it is called Antarene, comes in two strengths. The stronger one has 400mg ibuprofen and a hefty 60mg codeine). AND I even compare the painkillers available in France with the ones available in the UK. For strength, price, etc... Yes, it is MUCH cheaper in the UK.There are also some paracetamol preparations which have caffeine added to it. I have had to find out about that as I am allergic to caffeine. It's a wild world out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Sorry 5E, I should have realised that you would have known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Paracetemol is one of those things that I stock up with when in UK: 32 x 500mg tablets for about 80p in the supermarket. You can only buy a maximum of 32... I just go back and get more and go to a different checkout! Like a drug smuggler coming through customs! [blink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 [quote user="idun"]Sorry 5E, I should have realised that you would have known.[/quote]Why should you apologise? Not everyone knows me as an over-informed, hypochondriac alternative health professional. [:D][:P][kiss] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRoss Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Another point worth making is that generic versions of named brands may have the same active component but other materials used, in the casing for example, can have adverse effects for some folk. Oméprazole versus Mopral for example........JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 I am sure we will see more and more medicines 'déremboursé' and pressure on Mutualles and patients. My point is that as well as encouraging people to accept fewer items on their prescriptions, there should be better budgetary control at the national level. But as my Infirmière said to me this morning, the companies 'sucrent' the powers that be.I believe that one of a certain family of three brothers has financial interests in Pharmacology firms... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 NormanH, what they should do and they will do is quite another. This has been the case in France for years and years and they have never done a thing about it yet. I think that they will knock more and more things off the lists of reimbursable stuff and then the mutualists will say, that isn't reimbursable, if you want it, buy it.I have little confidence in the government doing anything concrete about these disparities between french prices and other countries prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Since the Mediator drug scandal there does seem to have been some attempt to look at the whole drug question in France, but it will take a long time and a lot of political will to sort the mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommier Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 There's a list of drugs which are under scrutiny by the government, amongst which is the generic version of Levothyrox (which I bet lots of people on here are prescribed) because'Enquête de PV en coursSignal d'inefficacité desgénériques identifié en juin2010'I don't mind taking generic versions of drugs, but I'd expect them to be the same as the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breizh Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I will declare an interest as one of the big drug companies. Here's the other side of the issue, the failure of cliniques and hospitals to pay for drugs. In rural areas and the south, 3-4 years for payment to be made to the drug companies. The bad debt rates and and write offs are 25-30%. NHS zero bad debt, NHS 45 payment days. Someone somewhere has to pay for that incompetance.Problem is as drug company is that you cannot refuse to supply. People will die. Hence they get held hostage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 An interesting insight breizh. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I'm not surprised that the hospitals don't pay, some are so darned slow with sending their bills out to the patients too. Mine 10 day hospital stay wasn't billed to anyone for months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 [quote user="breizh"]I will declare an interest as one of the big drug companies. Here's the other side of the issue, the failure of cliniques and hospitals to pay for drugs. In rural areas and the south, 3-4 years for payment to be made to the drug companies. The bad debt rates and and write offs are 25-30%. NHS zero bad debt, NHS 45 payment days. Someone somewhere has to pay for that incompetance.Problem is as drug company is that you cannot refuse to supply. People will die. Hence they get held hostage. [/quote]What about the drugs supplied to pharmacies? Surely they are a large percentage of total sales and must pay rather quicker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I was still getting bills from the hospital after two and a half years, problem is neither I or they know if there are any more yet to come, its been more than a year now but I still cannot relax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 So no wonder they are forking out and paying their bills if they aren't getting their revenue in. That sounds terrible Chancer, all that time later and not knowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breizh Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 There does seem to be a endemic problem with the French system. There was a period where they wanted to only pay the product costs of the drugs(!). then they just went on payment strike. We are the biggest global supplier of OTC (over the counter drugs), but our market is small in France. The local French companies have the market. Officially, I don't know why, anything else is supposition. There is no central purchasing in France. It is all locally, and again officially I know nothing. OTC is done a site, by site basis.A NICE based system has been mooted, but as yet got nowhere. Again officially I don't know why, and anything would be supposition.Why France pays twice as much as any other country in Europe would only be supposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breizh Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Just check your drug packets. How many are produced by French companies. Then ask why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now