Eltroxin price vs Eutirox price (exact same drug in spain)

quinnie123ie

Hi, i have hypothyroidism which basically means i need to take tablets for the rest of my life. i was in spain last year and forgot my tabs and had to buy the spanish equivilent.
80 x 100mcg Tab of Eutirox is €3.80
80 x 100mcg Tab of Eltroxin is around €40
i cant get over the difference in price and have been taking the spanish tablets for over a year now with no problems.

I hope i never have to buy any more tabs over here, i have stocked up, was wondering if anyone else has done the same?

omahaid

Ya, did with asthma inhalers, dirt cheap in Spain and dont need a prescription (have to pay a doctor here to renew it, I don't really understand that).

quinnie123ie

your Doc must be extracting the urine? if you ring the receptionist and tell them you will be dropping by for a repeat script they should sort you out free of charge??? different i guess if they need to do a checkup or something more.

i know what i would do if he wanted 50bucks off me for that little service...

ch750536

quinnie123ie wrote: »

your Doc must be extracting the urine? if you ring the receptionist and tell them you will be dropping by for a repeat script they should sort you out free of charge??? different i guess if they need to do a checkup or something more.

i know what i would do if he wanted 50bucks off me for that little service...

Think you misunderstood.

rubadub

ch750536 wrote: »

Think you misunderstood.

He was responding to the 2nd poster, who has to pay for repeat prescriptions.

Those tablets are 5p each on http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/search_results.php?q=Eltroxin
but you cannot buy as it is prescription. I got loads of stuff on that site and saved a fortune.

darc

Prescription medicines are heavily subsidised in Spain and in UK. This is paid for by their substantially higher taxes.

In Ireland you are refunded all medicine expenditure over €90 /month or thereabouts therefore the subsidy is targeted towards people who have a greater need for medicine.

GerardKeating

quinnie123ie wrote: »

your Doc must be extracting the urine? if you ring the receptionist and tell them you will be dropping by for a repeat script they should sort you out free of charge??? different i guess if they need to do a checkup or something more.

i know what i would do if he wanted 50bucks off me for that little service...

Many (most?) Doctors shared for a prescriptions, some times less that a full visit if you do not actually see the doctor.

Kurtosis

darc wrote: »

In Ireland you are refunded all medicine expenditure over €90 /month or thereabouts therefore the subsidy is targeted towards people who have a greater need for medicine.

The new threshold (as of January 1st) is €100 per month.

rubadub

darc wrote: »

Prescription medicines are heavily subsidised in Spain and in UK. This is paid for by their substantially higher taxes.

Look at that chemistdirect site though, OTC and on the shelf drugs are a pittance compared to here.

darc wrote: »

In Ireland you are refunded all medicine expenditure over €90 /month or thereabouts therefore the subsidy is targeted towards people who have a greater need for medicine.

What also happens is people end up buying overpriced brand name drugs, lining the pockets of overpriced pharmacists and the drug companies, all just to get themselves above that €90 limit. Doctors are in on this too, I had one even tell me to get a repeat subscription and to buy it there and then to get over the limit. I also know people who are taking more medication than they really need, they feign symptoms to get over this limit. Fu*king crazy setup IMO.

Kurtosis

rubadub wrote: »

Doctors are in on this too, I had one even tell me to get a repeat subscription and to buy it there and then to get over the limit.

Sorry to say it, but the doctor you were talking to isn't quite up to speed. It is not possible to get more than one month's supply of a medication under the DPS each month. If you do want to get multiple repeats at the one time, these have to be processed as supplies for separate months.

For example, a medicine costing say 120 euro for a month's supply, if you want to get three months of it at once, you'd be charged 3 x 100 euro. Even if the medicine only cost 50 per month, it's still going to be 3 x 50 euro, even if you do get the three months worth all in one go.

wmpdd3

Anybody know why the basics are to expensive here compared to the UK.
Paracetamol caps 12 €1.98 here/ 21p there?

There has to be some reason because I used to buy the chalky ones on the chemist for about that price around 2001/2 ie €3.50 for a 40 tab jar.

They are about the same in France, holland and Spain.(€1.98)

ceegee

OP, where are you getting your 40 euro figure from? Theres no way 80 tablets could cost that. A six month supply would cost half as much (if on one a day)

quinnie123ie

ceegee wrote: »

OP, where are you getting your 40 euro figure from? Theres no way 80 tablets could cost that. A six month supply would cost half as much (if on one a day)

Please send me the name of the pharmacie because all the ones in my area are around €15 for 30 tabs... 80 Tabs in spain is less then €4.

quinnie123ie

http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0537/D.0537.200105310097.html

ceegee

quinnie123ie wrote: »

Please send me the name of the pharmacie because all the ones in my area are around 15 for 30 tabs... 80 Tabs in spain is less then 4.

Just try give a few of them a ring to check their price, should be about 5.50 for a 28 box of 100s, is cheaper to get a few months together (only pay the one dispensing fee)

chancer_007

anyone know how much the ventolin & seretide are in Spain?

Jimdagym

You have to remember that the use of generic pharmacuticals in europe is a lot more prevalent in europe that it is here. Most governments are pushing generics now as it legally is an identical drug to the original, whose patent has run out so its open season for all to mass produce. Chemically its identical, the only difference is lower cost to the end user. At the very least, medical card holders should have prescriptions filled by generic medicine, and anyone who wishes for a brand name may elect to pay for it. The health board savings would be colossal. I say this as someone who is not a medical card holder, and given the choice, would buy generic's every time.

omahaid

chancer_007 wrote: »

anyone know how much the ventolin & seretide are in Spain?

A link that discusses this very issue here

http://patphelan.net/the-high-cost-of-breathing-in-ireland/

krazyklown

I work in a pharmacy..

yesterday a rep for gillette told me that there is more brand loyalty in ireland than on the continent (irish people prefer to buy the brand than a generic)

although i do very little work in the dispensary i know that it is problematic getting people to switch to generics, i see it all the time, particulary in the veterinary section where farmers fork out bigger money for your ivomec or whatever rather than save by buying its equivalent in an alternative brand (which i always reccomend incidently). same for zovirax (which is obscenely overpriced compared to spain) where there is an irish made alternative called acic. in my experience i have to convince the customer that its exactly the same and that they can save money yet they still buy the brand. i think the basic problem is people dont think that the generic is as good.

i think doctors are directed to use the generic brand where possible when issuing medical card prescriptions

also for the op's info the eutirox is not available in ireland and as far as i know there is no generic for eltroxin licensed in ireland

from the 1st of january there was a 15% reduction on a range of drugs. this was achieved by targetting the producers/manufacturers who set a higher cost price for these drugs here compared to other countries. this is the road to go if we want affordable drug costs in ireland in my opinion

AtaStrumf

Eltroxin is one of the cheapest meds around even in Ireland. My admittedly old copy of MIMS lists the following prices:

25 mcg (28) ... €1.12
50 mcg (28) ... €1.52
100 mcg (28) ... €1.67

Also see http://www.imt.ie/mims/2009/01/price_update.html for the price reduction agreement between IPHA and HSE, where original meds with generics available have gone down in price 20% and now another 15%.

ceegee

cost price is about 20% higher now than those figures.