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Why are medecines so expensive?


alencon
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I wanted (actually needed because I was in severe pain) some Omeprazole 20mg over the counter at the pharmacy but a small packet would have cost me 28.50 euros.  The pharmacist suggested I ask my doctor for a prescription so I could offset the cost on my Carte Vitale.  Of course, this was good advice and on reflection I should have made sure I had a supply of the tablets in the house instead of waiting for the pain.  However, there was a queue in the doctor's and I couldn't wait because the only other option to not taking the tablets at the onset of the pain (crippling gastric) is to be physically sick so I had to get home sharpish.

I can't remember how much the tablets cost in England (over the counter) but it was only a few pounds.  How is the 28.50 euro charge justified over here and does it mean I have to stock my medecine cabinet with a host of prescription drugs for fear of not being able to afford them in a genuine emergency.

Now I understand why the doctor was fielding so many calls for prescriptions and writing them out as she spoke on the telephone and why she offerred me a prescription for paracetemol which I would normally have bought for about 20p in the UK.

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You will find a lot of medicines available at Tescos and the like in the UK are just not available here without prescription and you cannot buy any medicines in the supermarket.

If you want "prescription" drugs over the counter at the pharmacy, you pay the full cost of them.  In the UK the price of a lot of drugs that can be had with or without prescription are priced at or around the prescription charge.  If you have a recurring problem see your doctor and get a repeat prescription

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Now I understand why the doctor was fielding so many calls for prescriptions and writing them out as she spoke on the telephone

Really?  Our doctors have clear signs up saying that they're no longer allowed to do this, and the only way to get a prescription is to have a consultation.

I suppose even doctors have to keep up with the ever-rising cost of living!

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It will be difficult getting into the regime of going to the doctors for the ailments you would normally self diagnose.

The prescriptions over the phone are still happening at my surgery and I wondered about the economic viability on the doctor's part.

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Being a diabetic - I get to see my doc every two months - get my prescription and go to the pharmacy - I can only get one months at a time - In the UK I used to come out with a carrier bag full for 3 months at a time.

Is this the law or a local custom??

James

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It is obviously down to the drugs you are on, Celebrex was €70 a month (repaid of course and the doctor quickly got me off them) but my anti-eplieptics are 2,57 per month and I have been told by someone else who is on half the dose, he pays a fortune for them in the States.

I also take large (and I mean large) doses of codiene with paracetamol (2,17 for 16) and they are so cheap compared to the cost of lesser drugs with 8 mg of the stuff in the UK it is amazing - the painkiller I take here is not available in this form as far as I know in the UK even on prescription - you might be a silly billy and take too many you know - so they would rather you were in pain (there was a thread on this here some time ago when NICE decided to pull the drug).

Both my drugs are very addictive and so I have to go to the doctor to get a repeat prescription, I seem able to buy beconaise here n France but my colleagues have to go to the doctor to get a prescription - they are not allowed to have it over the counter - depends on the pharmacy or how well you are known.

When I was in the pharmacy last week an elderly gentleman came in with a very very infected or inflamed eye. He was treated by the two pharmacists who prescribed eye drops - this is not the first time I have seen pharmacists do this and yet the doctor is just round the corner. I have also had alternative drugs to my UK prescribed drugs sold to me by pharmacists - they were much cheaper and just as effective (confirmed by my doctor when I went to see him a few days later). Perhaps it might be worth while asking if there is an alternative drug that you could take in the short term.

I wanted Zantac at one point - well it works for me - no way, prescription only, but they sold me an equivalent drug made in France - I wanted Piriton, - no but sold me an equivalent drug - again almost identical drug make up - and neither were expensive - so do go and ask if there is an alternative if you are willing to try a generic.

Sorry for the long post (and probable spelling mistakes) - but hope it helps.

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Piriton and Zantac are brand names for formulations of chlorpheniramine maleate and ranitidine hydrochlorate respectively and should, perhaps, be written as Piriton® and Zantac®. It may be that these formulations are known by other brand names in France or are available by their generic names.

 

More to the point, as I understand it, the pharmacy in France is a cottage industry. At present I think French law forbids pharmacies to be owned or operated by anything other than a sole trader or partnership and this is why there are no Boots-type pharmacy chains in France. This means that the individual pharmacy has very limited negotiating power and has to accept the price charged by the manufacturer. Everyone in the supply chain will want his cut. I suspect that this may be a significant factor in the high price of drugs in France.

 

I'm reluctant to use a pharmacist to diagnose health problems. About 20 years ago, while we were on holiday in Provence, my daughter complained that her ear was hurting. We were told that the local pharmacist would be able to deal with the problem. The pharmacist examined her and declared un bouchon and promptly sold us wax remover. Later that day, when the pain had become worse, the GP diagnosed otitis media and prescribed an antibiotic.

 

Incidentally, last week when I was in France I wanted a very common home remedy (in UK) and went to find it in a hypermarket. I found all kinds of remedy, including pills to:

 

-          improve my brain power

-          to remove my cellulite

-          to improve the shape of my breasts (!)

-          to make my stomach flat

-          to improve my eyesight

-          to rid me of wrinkles

 

but nothing to control my dyspepsia.

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I sometimes go into a chemist and show them the British inhailer for the wifes asthma and tell them we are on holliday even though it is prescription only I always walk out with one .I got bored of doing this so we went to the doctors and now we have to go back every 2 months and pay him 20 euros to get the prescription I know we will get 13 euros back as soon as her medical card is sorted but it does add the price up I might go back to blagging the chemists again saying we on holliday but it only works once in each chemist saying that there are a lot of chemists in France
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A friend staying with us had to get a replacement inhalers on holiday, no problems, just cost him nearly 50€ for the set, they all ran out without him realising they were nearly empty. 

PF I cannot see the logic of your "blag" on that basis, or why you would want to brag on here about it as if you were being clever, you have more money than sense? .

 In the circumstance above, if it was me I would have only paid 15€ for the inhalers plus 7€ for the doctors, so it would have been far cheaper to see the doc first. How many times you pulled this blag

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Are you sure that inhalers are only on prescription in France? I've needed to buy them a couple of times both in France and Spain and have just gone into the pharmacy and asked for them - no question as to whether I lived there or was on holiday. I'd like to know, not only for myself but because I've just told someone this on another thread.

Thanks

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To Ron you are talking giberish I am not bragging but saying that if someone is in a rut they can possible go into a chemist and get one if they grovel a little and by the way the inhaler costs 4 euros so were did you get the 50 euros from anyway. what else could one expect when they try to help
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Having read through this thread I am a little puzzled as to why so many of you seem to handing out so much cash.

Assuming a person is resident in France, the Carte Vitale will cover around 70% of the cost of all drugs and your top-up insurance (which it is most advisable to have) will cover the balance. At our local pharmacie we simply show our CV (they have already registered the details of our top-up policy) and we don't have to pay a centime. The doctor's form is also handed in at the pharmacie and the refund comes through, in two seperate payments, in full direct to our bank account.

If you are just visiting France on holiday then surely you have an E111. This will cover the first 70% ish cost of drugs and treatment (although I admit it is a hassle to go and claim the money back if you are on holiday. If the cost is a lot then hopefully you've also got a yearly travel insurance policy (pretty cheap to buy now in the UK) from which you can claim the whole lot back from (except the excess) when you return home.

The lesson seems to be to make sure you're properly insured.

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Yes, I do have an E111, but it's really too much hassle to go through all that form filling just for one inhaler every blue moon! You're also forgetting that travel insurance, unlike cover with mutuelles, won't cover pre-existing conditions, so is little use for people with chronic illnesses.
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[quote]To Ron you are talking giberish I am not bragging but saying that if someone is in a rut they can possible go into a chemist and get one if they grovel a little and by the way the inhaler costs 4 euro...[/quote]

Sorry where I come from blag means to get by deception and in a rut does not mean cannot be bothered to go to the Doctor

If you read the post properly I said that it cost my friend 50€for his inhalers not yours. 

"what else could one expect when they try to help"?????  Well that would be a first for you then. 

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My OH and I both have chronic conditions that require loads of medication.

Even after I've presented my CV I still have to pay over E100 every visit, which for me is every 28 days.  Between the system and the insurance I get it all back less the E1 supplement we all get hit for.  Doctors every 3 months for a repeat prescription, by appointment, takes 10 mins and I get the E20 back.

I don't see what the problem is here for residents unless you're trying to perpetuate the myth of the Brits trying to get around the system and being smarta***s - don't see the need to go into a pharmacy and lie about being on holiday at all.

 

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Next time you need something urgently and can't get to see you doctor straight away, buy it from the pharmacie, if it is an over the counter item, keep receipt and sticky label off the box (forget what it's called),  get prescription from the doctor, go back to pharmacie with all of the above and they should refund you - our local pharmacie suggested this, and it worked.

Krin

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