# Prescription Drug Prices



## Harry31 (15 Nov 2013)

Does the recent price fixing of certain products by the HSE (the reference price which they will pay), have any bearing on the price of private prescriptions?


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## irishmoss (16 Nov 2013)

I don't think so. One chemist out of five I rang gave me the drugs at €10 above the DSP price the rest were €40 above the DSP !


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## Harry31 (16 Nov 2013)

Is there any reason for this I wonder?If the HSE are serious about bringing costs down shouldn't it be for everyone - we are tax payers after all


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## Time (16 Nov 2013)

That would be interfering with the free market economy.


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## Harry31 (17 Nov 2013)

Time -I don't agree, the government is telling us to shop around, but if there is a cartel type situation they could intervene & should intervene .


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## irishmoss (17 Nov 2013)

A strange thing happened me recently. I was getting my prescription at a cost of €90 but everywhere else ranged from €114 - €120. While collecting my prescription I asked the chemist if my husband needed drugs would I have to get them in the same chemist. When I came home the Drug Repayment scheme docket was missing that I needed to make a claim from my private health care. On ringing up the chemist she said she didn't normally give the receipt out when she was giving a discount but she would post it out. 
I got the impression that she didn't want other chemists knowing she was selling at a lower price and she was making sure they wouldn't identify her by not giving me the drug refund docket to bring to another chemist.


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## dewdrop (3 Dec 2013)

Unfortunately i am one of these people slow to question prices. However a recent letter to Irish Times which urged people to shop around for drug prices prompted me to do likewise.  My usual chemist charged me 138 euro for my drugs but when i checked the cost with another chemist the cost was 99 euro so i have learned a lesson.


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## Slim (3 Dec 2013)

The cost of my private prescription has dropped significantly lately. The pharmacist said it was to do with reference pricing but it seems to me to be more a case of generic drugs pricing. S.


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## delgirl (3 Dec 2013)

You can fill a prescription in the North for a fraction of what you would pay here on certain meds (particularly those that are no longer under licence).

You can ask your GP to give you a 6 month script with the generic name of the drug and can fill it at any pharmacy in the North.  

I found Boots to be the cheapest and easiest to deal with - I was paying €30 per month in the South for my meds and €90 per month for my husbands.  I got a full 6 month supply of my meds for UK£12 and 6 months of my husband's for a total UK£120.

That's a saving of approximately €560 for six months.


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## Slim (4 Dec 2013)

It is ironic now that the drop in pharmacy costs means that, for all meds coming into our house, we are barely breaking the monthly limit under Drugs Payments Scheme so it will now be worth shopping up north again (over €100 per month of this cannot be sourced up north).


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## demoivre (4 Dec 2013)

delgirl said:


> You can fill a prescription in the North for a fraction of what you would pay here on certain meds (particularly those that are no longer under licence).
> 
> You can ask your GP to give you a 6 month script with the generic name of the drug and can fill it at any pharmacy in the North.
> 
> ...



Wow that's some saving over a year - assume you had to travel up to the North to collect ?


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## delgirl (4 Dec 2013)

demoivre said:


> Wow that's some saving over a year - assume you had to travel up to the North to collect ?


Yes, but I know someone who just gives their script to a friend who regularly goes North on business and he fills the prescription for them without a problem.

As I said, it depends on what medication you are on and whether it's still under licence - in that case it may be _somewhat _cheaper in the North, but not a huge amount.

Best thing to do is call a Boots or other pharmacy in the North and ask them how much it would cost to fill a specific prescription (give the generic name).

I know that [broken link removed] are well used to filling Southern prescriptions - you can fax or email a copy of the script and they will have it ready for you when you arrive.


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