Silly prices for medecines

[powerdesal]

Where on earth do French Pharmacies get their prices from ?

Anti-histamine: E5.50 for 7 tablets in France vs £1.00 for 14 tablets in Tesco UK. Same drug, same strength.

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[woolybanana]

France is a mine d'or for the pharmaceutical companies. A recent TV prog suggested that medicines of all types were at least twice as expensive as in Italy and the Netherlands, often by a much greater multiple.

Some pharmacies have been buying the stuff abroad and reselling it here, and clearly making a buck.

Just one of the problems which the present givernment won't tackle. Think how much could be saved on the social security bill.

[KathyF]

Until the market for medicines is opened up to competition, nothing will change. There's still a wide variation in pricing between some pharmacies and supermarkets in the UK, as I noticed recently when buying microporous tape, first in the local pharmacy (£1.65) and then at Tesco - 55p for the same amount of tape.

[Patf]

Aspirin is another example. I'm supposed to take 75mg per day, and it's in those tiny packets called Kardegic, 30 in a box. About 2.5€.

You can but 100 in Boots for about £1.

[YCCMB]

I don't think people translate this sort of thing into what happens in France when they go to the doctor. This pricing for medicines is something which operates right through the system and costs everyone a small fortune: only it's not really noticeable when it takes the form of an annual payment and a few cents on a prescription. When the cost of the overprescribed drugs is quantified, I'm sure it must be huge.

At least in the UK the system is such that, if a GP is inclined to prescribe something which is available over the counter more cheaply, they will, in general, tell you to go and buy it yourself. The system in France really encourages pharmaceutical companies to keep their prices high.

[nomoss]

[quote user="Patf"]Aspirin is another example. I'm supposed to take 75mg per day, and it's in those tiny packets called Kardegic, 30 in a box. About 2.5€.
You can but 100 in Boots for about £1.
[/quote]

I think you might be goingt back a bit. Last time I was in the UK (also quite a few years ago) you couldn't buy aspirin in larger packets than 16.

 

 

[YCCMB]

MHRA guidance says :

The maximum pack size for pain relief medicines in a general

sale outlet is 16 tablets or capsules. A pharmacy may sell

larger packs containing up to 32 tablets or capsules under the

supervision of a pharmacist. It is illegal to sell more than

100 tablets/capsules of either paracetamol or aspirin in any

one retail transaction.

Some places do refuse to sell multiple packs and/or don't stock aspirin in packs of more than 32 tablets, but it's their own policy rather than a legal requirement

[nomoss]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]MHRA guidance says :

The maximum pack size for pain relief medicines in a general

sale outlet is 16 tablets or capsules. A pharmacy may sell

larger packs containing up to 32 tablets or capsules under the

supervision of a pharmacist. It is illegal to sell more than

100 tablets/capsules of either paracetamol or aspirin in any

one retail transaction.

Some places do refuse to sell multiple packs and/or don't stock aspirin in packs of more than 32 tablets, but it's their own policy rather than a legal requirement

[/quote]

 

That may well be the case, but the staff in Boots, and all the other new high street chemist shops told us that 16 tablets was the maximum amount that they could sell.

 

So the ignorance and idiocy of British jobsworths is no different from that in France - surprise surprise[:D]

 

 

[YCCMB]

It IS the maximum amount they can sell....in Boots. It's been their policy for some years. I don't know why you'd shop there. Aspirin is cheaper in Tesco or most of the other supermarkets. If pushed, the staff in Boots will agree with you that it's stupid, but it's Boots protecting themselves against the (remote) possibility that someone may come in and buy enough in one hit to harm themselves and then try to sue Boots for giving them the ammo to do it. I can't really blame Boots, either. It's Joe Public, spurred on by slippedonachip.com and the new litigious culture.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Patf"]Aspirin is another example. I'm supposed to take 75mg per day, and it's in those tiny packets called Kardegic, 30 in a box. About 2.5€.
You can but 100 in Boots for about £1.
[/quote ] As others pointed out no longer true. That aside I do not pay for them anyway having been stented years ago 100% is paid for them in France as it is an ALD.

[YCCMB]

The only bit that's UN true, Quillan, is the word "Boots". You can, however, easily get 100 for a quid. Bully for you. Free aspirin. I bet whoever IS paying for your aspirin is paying a lot more than a quid a hundred. [:D] But you don't have to give a s***, which is pretty much the attitude that has meant everyone paying the extra CSG. So you're not paying for your aspirin, but you're paying CSG. Give me the bill for the aspirin any day!

[nomoss]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]It IS the maximum amount they can sell....in Boots. It's been their policy for some years. I don't know why you'd shop there.
[/quote]

Because, unlike you, I don't live in England and am not familiar with the peculiarities of shopping there when I make my infrequent visits and go to the shops I was previously used to.

Edit: Delete personal comment on YCCMB [:D]

[Quillan]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]The only bit that's UN true, Quillan, is the word "Boots". You can, however, easily get 100 for a quid. Bully for you. Free aspirin. I bet whoever IS paying for your aspirin is paying a lot more than a quid a hundred. [:D] But you don't have to give a s***, which is pretty much the attitude that has meant everyone paying the extra CSG. So you're not paying for your aspirin, but you're paying CSG. Give me the bill for the aspirin any day!
[/quote]

I don't pay for any of the drugs I take for my heart condition and diabetes but I do pay my tax, social charges and CSG which will disappear soon anyway when the new 'simplified' tax system is rolled out. Those that pay tax and CSG in France will have noticed that for last year we only had one tax bill for all our tax as opposed to two separate bills. My comment WAS relating to Boots. I didn't ask to have Angina and diabetes by the way; I would rather not have either.

[powerdesal]

UK supermarket policies on selling over the counter drugs has reached a ridiculous situation.

TESCO will only allow purchase of two packets of (say) paracetamol or aspirin and when asked why claim ''it is the Law'' - it isn't. It's the store policy.

When the real law was pointed out to them by a Medical Professional they still maintained their position. You can't blame the check out operator, their job depends on following company policy.

[YCCMB]

[quote user="Quillan"]I didn't ask to have Angina and diabetes by the way; I would rather not have either.[/quote]

Not smoking could help.

[Quillan]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"][quote user="Quillan"]I didn't ask to have Angina and diabetes by the way; I would rather not have either.[/quote]

Not smoking could help.
[/quote]

Its hereditary and both my parents died from one or the other and that has been passed to me and from me to my daughter (in her case the Angina). Neither of my parents every smoked and neither (to the best of my knowledge) has my daughter. As for me well yes I smoke and science (in my case having been tested) has proved neither of those two problems has anything to do with smoking. If anything it is more to do with diet. Also certainly in the UK smokers pay a lot more into the system via tax than they take out the system in treatment according to NHS and HMRC figures. It would not surprise me if it were not the same in France. We do however digress from the subject at hand.

[PaulT]

Now depression can lead to suicide and if I were that way inclined think I would be even more depressed going from chemist to chemist, supermarket to supermarket to get enough to do oneself in.

[Frederick]

[quote user="PaulT"]Now depression can lead to suicide and if I were that way inclined think I would be even more depressed going from chemist to chemist, supermarket to supermarket to get enough to do oneself in.[/quote]

Save the shoe leather !   Less than a quid 

http://www.multipharmacy.com/shop/customer/Dispersible-Aspirin-Tablets-100-tabs-75mg-pid-8869.html?gclid=CJan5rHGoLsCFRLMtAodwDkAlw

[nomoss]

[quote user="Frederick"]
Save the shoe leather !   Less than a quid 

http://www.multipharmacy.com/shop/customer/Dispersible-Aspirin-Tablets-100-tabs-75mg-pid-8869.html?gclid=CJan5rHGoLsCFRLMtAodwDkAlw
[/quote]

Perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to the quantity of aspirin rather than the number of tablets.

The link above is for 100 tablets BUT 100 tablets of only 75mg, which is a total of 7500mg of aspirin.

In one of our first aid kits I have found an old Lloyds pharmacy packet of 32 aspirin tablets of 300mg each, a total of 9600mg.

I apologise to Patf for not noticing only 75mg tablets were mentioned.

I suspect that the full regulations quoted above for their supply specify the size of the tablets as well as their number [;-)]

 

Edit: I avoid writing "aspirin" with a capital "a", as that signifies a trademark.

"Aspirin" lost its status as a registered trademark in 1919 in France, Russia, the UK and the USA, where it became a generic name.

It appears Bayer got around that in France by using the name "Aspirine du Rhone".

 

 

[Judith]

TESCO will only allow purchase of two packets of (say) paracetamol or

aspirin and when asked why claim ''it is the Law'' - it isn't. It's the

store policy.

And nothing to stop you going in again and buying two more form a different till - or getting friends and family to do likewise.  I usually get a supply of otc stuff from tesco when I'm there .. and each time I shop, I buy two packets, thus proving how daft the law is ...

[Patf]

Nomoss - apology accepted, I've lost the drift of the argument now!

The silly thing is, before my last appt. with the cardialogue I was chugging along quite happily for the last 7 years on a 3 monthly combine statin/aspirin called Pravadual. (I've got similar problems to Q.)

Because my bad cholesterol is now slightly up, she decided to increase the statin, which left me with  Kardegic, only a month's supply, so I decided to buy instead of spending a whole morning waiting to see our MT for a prescription.

I shouldn't complain, they're very thorough here.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

The last time I was in the UK a couple of years back I hit upon the

money-saving notion of buying several hundred paracetamol / ibuprofen

tablets and bringing them back to France.

In a branch of Tesco,

unaware of there being any regulation (I know, I know: should have

Googled it be afore I went there, but I'm just slapdash), I pitched up

to the till with about ten boxes only to be told that I couldn't buy

more than a single packet of 16 of either one or the other.

Never

mind, thought I, because there was a Superdrug across the road, so I

bought just the one packet (they didn't ask me to put the rest back

myself, which was quite nice) and wandered across to buy a couple of

boxes there. Staggeringly, the jobsworth supervisor from Tesco followed

me and instructed the assistant not to sell me anything. Even more

staggeringly, she went along with it and the pair of them glowered at me

as I slunk out, crushed but slightly wiser.

In the end, a friend with the right kind of card got me a catering pack of each from a wholesaler.

[Chancer]

Do you look or act suicidal?

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Chancer"]Do you look or act suicidal?[/quote]

Don't think so. I am generally of a cheery disposition in a grumpy, middle-aged, sort of way. I was a bit put out at being treated like a nine year old by a couple of interfering harridans with the intellectual capacity of a root vegetable, but I don't think I expressed this in so many words.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Patf"]Nomoss - apology accepted, I've lost the drift of the argument now!
The silly thing is, before my last appt. with the cardialogue I was chugging along quite happily for the last 7 years on a 3 monthly combine statin/aspirin called Pravadual. (I've got similar problems to Q.)
Because my bad cholesterol is now slightly up, she decided to increase the statin, which left me with  Kardegic, only a month's supply, so I decided to buy instead of spending a whole morning waiting to see our MT for a prescription.
I shouldn't complain, they're very thorough here.
[/quote]

You should have a word with Wooly. He gave me some tips because of the cholesterol and my diabetes on what to eat. My last annual 'control' revealed that one of my cholesterols had gone too low which explains my tiredness. The result is my statin was reduced from 20 to 10 and with a bit of luck in 11 months time I will have reduced it even more. I didn’t follow all his tips as I am still a ‘hunter gatherer’ but apart from duck which replaces red meat I only eat white meat or fish, quite a lot of fish. I thought that fish was supposed to make you super intelligent but I have not noticed any improvement yet or more to the point Mrs Q hasn’t. [:(]