Aero chamber asthma inhaler €50 here, £13 in Belfast

newbridgemom

An Aero-Chamber Inhaler for kids is €50 in my local pharmacy. I bought one 3 years ago for €65. I recently paid £13 for one in Belfast at Boots. The lady said it would be half the price if I had a prescription. Something is very wrong here. This is a medical device for kids.

rubadub

People do not tend to shop around for drugs or medical devices, they also put a irrational trust in shopkeepers who happened to get high points in their leaving cert and so happened to do a college course which lets them hold a licence to sell drugs. These pharmacists/shopkeepers know this full well and take full advantage.

You can buy these things online http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/search_results.php?q=aerochamber

newbridgemom

this site is a revelation to me! thanks!

rubadub

newbridgemom wrote: »

this site is a revelation to me! thanks!

I read about chemistdirect on boards, it gets mixed reviews/opinions. I ordered from them and did not get all my stuff, was charged for what I got, I would definitely use them again, the savings were ridiculous, have a good search as postage is a fixed price no matter how much you get. The complaints are usually slow delivery or not getting all the stuff like me.

Check here for more reports on boards.
http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en#complete=1&hl=en&source=hp&q=chemistdirect.co.uk+site%3Aboards.ie&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&fp=db64f927cfe7b756

Grawns

newbridgemom wrote: »

Not sure if this is a consumer alert or actually just a big rip off:

An Aero-Chamber Inhaler for kids is €50 in my local pharmacy. I bought one 3 years ago for €65. I recently paid £13 for one in Belfast at Boots. The lady said it would be half the price if I had a prescription. Something is very wrong here. This is a medical device for kids.

Had to get one for my little one recently and knew well I was being ripped off. Had to have it there and than though. Makes my blood boil!

Have used ChemistDirect twice cheap but never again.

ejmaztec

newbridgemom wrote: »

An Aero-Chamber Inhaler for kids is €50 in my local pharmacy. I bought one 3 years ago for €65. I recently paid £13 for one in Belfast at Boots. The lady said it would be half the price if I had a prescription. Something is very wrong here. This is a medical device for kids.

I think that it's standard in the pharmaceutical and medical supplies industries that profits come first and having a conscience doesn't come anywhere.

91011

The price in the USA is $50, so maybe the boots uk price was incorrect.

edit - checked it out. There are widely different prices out there. From £6.50 to $69, so maybe there are different sizes / strengths etc.

If its the same product & same size, maybe contact the distributor for an explanation or the pharmacy group that shouted about lower prices recently.

But don't blame the pharmacy - they operate in a fixed margin of 33% which is the about the same margins pharmacies worldwide operate on - its the drug companies themselves that have different pricing strategies for each market.

dudara

Moved to Rip Off Ireland and merged

OP - please do not create two threads for one subject in different forums.

dudara

Gudenfast

Just had my son attending a consultant a few weeks ago for asthma. He recommended we shouldn't pay more than €10-15 for the AeroChamber. We were disgusted to hear they were on sale in most pharmacies for €45+.

Unfortunately we had to get one but not before registering my protest with the pharmacist. He revealed that they buy ALL their stock from United Drug in Dublin, which when you consider that most pharmacies are the same, it basically makes a joke of the idea that any pharmacy is independent. He also revealed the wholesale price is around €24 - nearly 100% mark-up!!!!!!

It got worse when I arrived home and found the same AeroChamber on-line in the UK for around £13 + £4 postage. If that's the price any on-line punter can get it for, then United Drug must be making about 100% mark-up also.

As I was writing this Boots returned my call, so I also just discovered that Boots Ireland have the same chamber for the same price and they get it from United Drug also. That's more than a coincidence that they all have 100% mark-up. Price fixing anyone?

Disgusting is too small a word for it. Profiteering doesn't even come close to describe what these companies do when they benefit to this degree from other peoples illnesses. And they obviously conspire to do so. :mad:

ejmaztec

Gudenfast wrote: »

Just had my son attending a consultant a few weeks ago for asthma. He recommended we shouldn't pay more than €10-15 for the AeroChamber. We were disgusted to hear they were on sale in most pharmacies for €45+.

Unfortunately we had to get one but not before registering my protest with the pharmacist. He revealed that they buy ALL their stock from United Drug in Dublin, which when you consider that most pharmacies are the same, it basically makes a joke of the idea that any pharmacy is independent. He also revealed the wholesale price is around €24 - nearly 100% mark-up!!!!!!

It got worse when I arrived home and found the same AeroChamber on-line in the UK for around £13 + £4 postage. If that's the price any on-line punter can get it for, then United Drug must be making about 100% mark-up also.

As I was writing this Boots returned my call, so I also just discovered that Boots Ireland have the same chamber for the same price and they get it from United Drug also. That's more than a coincidence that they all have 100% mark-up. Price fixing anyone?

Disgusting is too small a word for it. Profiteering doesn't even come close to describe what these companies do when they benefit to this degree from other peoples illnesses. And they obviously conspire to do so. :mad:

Wholesalers and main suppliers in Ireland have "got it all sewn up", as a late uncle of mine used to say. With protective agreements in place for many different products, retailers have no choice other than to buy supplies from the sheisters that control the prices.

The United Drug company doesn't give a hoot what it charges, as long as it gets its hands on hard cash, and neither does any other over-priced supplier.

Gudenfast

...retailers have no choice other than to buy supplies from the sheisters that control the prices.

True. But then to add a whopping 100% mark-up? Whatever way we try to dress it up, pharmacies and their suppliers are making immorally high profits from the suffering of others on ALL their medicines and medical devices.

On a slightly more hopeful note, the Asthma Society of Ireland also provide these "AeroChambers" for a more reasonable €24 to members, €29 to non members.

ejmaztec

Gudenfast wrote: »

True. But then to add a whopping 100% mark-up? Whatever way we try to dress it up, pharmacies and their suppliers are making immorally high profits from the suffering of others on ALL their medicines and medical devices.

On a slightly more hopeful note, the Asthma Society of Ireland also provide these "AeroChambers" for a more reasonable €24 to members, €29 to non members.

I think that most things are immoral in the medical and pharmaceutical game, even down to getting charged for parking in a hospital car-park.

It's not unknown for many businesses to mark up the cost of goods to make a profit, the percentage varying across the range, but if the cost-price starts off high, then it can only escalate from there.

My local pharmacist is the only decent one that I know, and he even tells you about the generic drugs and potions that are available, thereby saving you a few quid. As a matter of interest, I'll ask him how much he charges for an Aero Chamber.

countrynosebag

Regarding the hospital car-parking charges - I have had surgery and been visited, the hospital is a good 1 and 1/2 hours away = the cost of petrol and the time and the parking mounts up very quickly for pensioners. The tea cafe was closed on all but the one occasion and a cup of tea on the ward when the patients had one would be much appreciated. no-one would mind paying a small fee for ticket at reception. the parking ought to be free for pensioners and disabled on basic budget - the price is frightening.