I live close to the French border. Sandoz Generic Co-Amoxicillin costs 4,51€ in France, as negotiated by the French Social Security, which is TEN TIMES CHEAPER than in Switzerland.
Meaning that, despite my Fr. 500+ health insurance with the lowest deductible, the 10% co-pay would often make it cheaper to buy in France out of pocket, instead of buying in Switzerland *the exact same generic drug from the exact same Swiss laboratory*.
In VD and GE, the taxpayer supports a third of insured persons with health insurance subsidies.
We keep whining, ranting and looking for magical solutions, while completely ignoring the utterly obvious pharma lobby rip-off. I am not talking about new cancer drugs. I am talking about amoxicillin and paracetamol, invented a century ago.
We don’t buy drugs for pleasure. We buy drugs because we need to. And yet, we are being collectively ripped off.
What a sad, sad joke.
Another massive cost-generating factor is that for pretty much any drug you’ll need a prescription from a doctor. Then we complain we don’t have enough of them, yet I feel like every doctor spends half his time writing prescriptions that could easily be vetted by a pharmacist. Who is trained for exactly that. It’s outrageous, yet nobody does anything about it.
Read about lobbying. I would also pay 6x the amount of my tablets for a chronic disease in Switzerland Vs. the exact same in Germany.
On one hand people complain about generic drug cost and on the other hand complain about drug shortages, you can have only one. Drug donl not grow on trees
Another thing is that some of the basic drugs require a prescription, like melatonin. So again, the costs of getting a prescription. This is ridiculous
If you want to see cheap drugs, look up 500 and 1000 pill ibuprofen bottles in the US. 500 200mg pills cost ~~about the same as~~ less than a 20 pack in Switzerland. (I guess it might be similar with paracetamol, but I’m in team ibuprofen so idk.)
Paracetamol and ibuprofen are really cheap, but because they are cheap they are also much more used and abused than necessary.
UK is also un such a poor state that I’m not sure you’d want to live here and have 1/3 of your salary, just so you can have cheap Paracetamol. Swiss people have higher salaries, you should be used by now to pay more for everything.
Is it fair completely – no. Is it reasonable given everything, including small population and 3 different languages… probably.
Nooooo it’s the patient’s fault, we have to increase the minimum franchise
/s
Rare UK W 💪
I‘d still prefer to live in Switzerland than in the UK honestly.
Yes…but Tesco limit you to 2 packs in case you are suicidal, so you have to do multiple trips.
I travel for work in Lithuania and I bought some products made in Switzerland (roche, novartis) which costed me surely less than half.
Paracetamol, cream, ibrufene. I also buy Ozempic in Italy it costs me less than half. Crazy …
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I live close to the French border. Sandoz Generic Co-Amoxicillin costs 4,51€ in France, as negotiated by the French Social Security, which is TEN TIMES CHEAPER than in Switzerland.
Meaning that, despite my Fr. 500+ health insurance with the lowest deductible, the 10% co-pay would often make it cheaper to buy in France out of pocket, instead of buying in Switzerland *the exact same generic drug from the exact same Swiss laboratory*.
In VD and GE, the taxpayer supports a third of insured persons with health insurance subsidies.
We keep whining, ranting and looking for magical solutions, while completely ignoring the utterly obvious pharma lobby rip-off. I am not talking about new cancer drugs. I am talking about amoxicillin and paracetamol, invented a century ago.
We don’t buy drugs for pleasure. We buy drugs because we need to. And yet, we are being collectively ripped off.
What a sad, sad joke.
Another massive cost-generating factor is that for pretty much any drug you’ll need a prescription from a doctor. Then we complain we don’t have enough of them, yet I feel like every doctor spends half his time writing prescriptions that could easily be vetted by a pharmacist. Who is trained for exactly that. It’s outrageous, yet nobody does anything about it.
Read about lobbying. I would also pay 6x the amount of my tablets for a chronic disease in Switzerland Vs. the exact same in Germany.
On one hand people complain about generic drug cost and on the other hand complain about drug shortages, you can have only one. Drug donl not grow on trees
Another thing is that some of the basic drugs require a prescription, like melatonin. So again, the costs of getting a prescription. This is ridiculous
If you want to see cheap drugs, look up 500 and 1000 pill ibuprofen bottles in the US. 500 200mg pills cost ~~about the same as~~ less than a 20 pack in Switzerland. (I guess it might be similar with paracetamol, but I’m in team ibuprofen so idk.)
Paracetamol and ibuprofen are really cheap, but because they are cheap they are also much more used and abused than necessary.
UK is also un such a poor state that I’m not sure you’d want to live here and have 1/3 of your salary, just so you can have cheap Paracetamol. Swiss people have higher salaries, you should be used by now to pay more for everything.
Is it fair completely – no. Is it reasonable given everything, including small population and 3 different languages… probably.
Nooooo it’s the patient’s fault, we have to increase the minimum franchise
/s
Rare UK W 💪
I‘d still prefer to live in Switzerland than in the UK honestly.
Yes…but Tesco limit you to 2 packs in case you are suicidal, so you have to do multiple trips.
I travel for work in Lithuania and I bought some products made in Switzerland (roche, novartis) which costed me surely less than half.
Paracetamol, cream, ibrufene. I also buy Ozempic in Italy it costs me less than half. Crazy …
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