Boots to shake up pharmacy market

[DCon]

Boots is going to start dispensing prescription drugs at no mark up and with a fixed dispensing fee of EUR 7.

Traditional pharmacies have up to a 50% mark up

Boots has sparked a prescription price war with smaller pharmacies by slashing the cost of some of the most popular medicines by as much as 31%.

The pricing structure, which comes into effect from Friday, will see consumers pay an average of 25% less for the 10 most expensive prescription medicines.

The pharmacy giant said people living with chronic conditions such as asthma or cardiovascular disease and who were not eligible for the GMS medical card scheme would benefit most.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland...ts-195520.html

[Andrew49]

Brilliant bit of news this for hard-pressed consumers.

For example, a person living with a cardiovascular condition such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol will see their medicine bill drop from about €77.88 to €65.92, representing an annual saving of up to €203.88. Mary Rose Burke, director of pharmacy with Boots Ireland, said many customers had come under financial pressure.

"In response to this, Boots Ireland is the first pharmacy retailer in Ireland to announce a commitment to delivering a clear and transparent pricing structure that will also result in significant savings for our customers."

[Slim Buddha]

Anything that smashes restrictve practices and cartel-like monopolist behaviour to rid society of a parasitical predator is always good news!

[Yojimbo]

Its long overdue that the pharmacy sector is shaken up - it is too much like a cartel. But we should beware unambiguously welcoming big operators slashing prices. If it forces other pharmacies to compete more strongly, then great. But if it forces smaller operators out of business, then it will result in a cartel of pharmacies turning into a monopoly situation, which can be even worse than a cartel (at least cartels offer some choice).

[Holly]

I saw the sun yesterday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&fe...&v=JsJynLpoT0U

P.S. Why are YouTube videos not playable on Political World anymore and only links are showing?

[Count Bobulescu]

I wouldn’t worry too much about the fate of the pharmacy sector if US experience is anything to go by. The top 30 US chains including supermarkets have a combined 33, 000 stores. That’s about one per 10,000 people. Included in that list are two chains, Wal-Mart, and its chief competitor Target with a combined 5,000 stores that offer an extensive list of hundreds of generic drugs at $4 for a 30 day supply, or $10 for a 90 day supply, including free home delivery by mail. Get a prescription and just phone in your refill orders sit back and wait. I avail of this myself for six prescriptions covering hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes and more. Comes to $240 total for a year’s supply of six medications, and no health care insurance needed to avail of this offer. The higher priced chains seem to be doing fine, they are constantly opening new stores.

http://www.walmart.com/cp/1078664

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot...rmacy_generics

[Slim Buddha]

If something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...s-3123721.html

[C. Flower]

There was a lobbyist piece in the SBP on Sunday - I'll try to find it tomorrow.

It openly suggested that Ireland pays over the odds for pharmaceuticals in exchange for pharma employment based here.

That doesn't make much sense to me, as pharma is mainly here for tax reasons.

But it isn't the first time I've read it. Any views ?

Pharma is of course at this stage going on for half our exports.

[Slim Buddha]

There was a lobbyist piece in the SBP on Sunday - I'll try to find it tomorrow.

It openly suggested that Ireland pays over the odds for pharmaceuticals in exchange for pharma employment based here.

That doesn't make much sense to me, as pharma is mainly here for tax reasons.

But it isn't the first time I've read it. Any views ?

Pharma is of course at this stage going on for half our exports.

"Our" exports, or the exports of American pharma firms based here to legally avail of a tax "efficient" net tax liability reduction?

[fluffybiscuits]

There was a lobbyist piece in the SBP on Sunday - I'll try to find it tomorrow.

It openly suggested that Ireland pays over the odds for pharmaceuticals in exchange for pharma employment based here.

That doesn't make much sense to me, as pharma is mainly here for tax reasons.

But it isn't the first time I've read it. Any views ?

Pharma is of course at this stage going on for half our exports.

+1 Most of the drugs here are for export and a lot of drugs companies have in people from abroad from a countries equivelant of our IMB or the American FDA to inspect. There would be no point on them having the monopoly for the pharma jobs, the IDA grants and college courses ensure that there is a ready made supply of very well trained staff to do the positions the pharma companies need filled.

Great news from Boots Going to put some pressure on the smaller pharmacies whom have a big cut of the market and charge a fortune...

[Count Bobulescu]

The links below may be of use to people who wish to shop around for medications that have price flexibility. You can arm yourself with information that drug X sells for Y price in the US and ask why it costs so much more in Ireland, (if in fact it does cost more)?

You’ll first need to select a valid zip code, (prices vary by state), which you can do at bottom link from the USPS. Just select a city and state such as Boston, Ma. plug that in to the USPS site and it will kick out valid zips. Select a zip and plug it in to one of the other two sites and you can find pricing for your drug. It won’t answer all questions an Irish consumer may have but it will answer some. Sam Lord might have even better price info. Lots of US citizens buy their meds in Canada.

http://www.consumerreports.org/healt...rugs/index.htm

http://www.rxaminer.com/consult/consult_mydrugs.asp

You can find a valid zip by plugging in a city and state at the link below.

https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupAction!input.action

[C. Flower]

Someone phoned RTE today saying that the drug that cost them 60 euro full price was only 57 euro generic - reduced to 30 euro (I think) by one pharmacist - and got for 9 euro in Spain.

For a basic prescription of two or three items, it might be cheaper to fly to Spain and buy it there.

[fluffybiscuits]

Someone phoned RTE today saying that the drug that cost them 60 euro full price was only 57 euro generic - reduced to 30 euro (I think) by one pharmacist - and got for 9 euro in Spain.

For a basic prescription of two or three items, it might be cheaper to fly to Spain and buy it there.

Its when someone goes to buy antibiotics that they run into issues. Over use of them could contribute to bacterial infections immune to antibiotics but anything else I would imagine is fair game