Same Ibuprofen, Different Prices !

[mikey4444]

When I was buying some Ibuprofen this morning, I noticed the following anomaly ::

"Feminax" 342 mg Ibuprofen Lysine....£4:35
"Nurofen" 342 mg Ibuprofen Lysine....£2:99
Ordinary, generic Ibuprofen......about..£1.50

Three packs, containing exactly the same drug, in exactly the same amounts, but hugely different prices ! The Feminax came in a FAB pink box, obviously to appeal to women, and was marketed as especially good for period pains !

I seem to recall Watchdog have something on this last year. Why would anybody pay £4:35, when they can get exactly the same thing for a third of the price ? Has the world gone mad ?

[anneasquith]

never buy nurofen, its a rip of .

[hc4361]

I buy a pack of 16 for 32 peeeee - Tesco

[ethandron]

Supermarket own 'cheapo' brand (smartprice, basic, etc)is even cheaper, something like 30p for 16.
It's the same with paracetamol, ranitidine, 'health salts' (Andrews) and most other medical type stuff, you just need to check the ingredients on the boxes.

[hc4361]

I agree with ethandron, I always buy own brand indigestion tablets/powders, paracetamol, suncream, and the 'proper' footcream for diabetics is well over £12 a tube but Boots own is exactly the same for £3.

[mikey4444]

I agree with everybody here but someone must be being fooled by the marketing, otherwise it wouldn't be on sale in the first place.

I always buy generic drugs, if possible, but I have a sister-in-law who insists that the more expensive makes are better ! I am not sure if she buys Ibuprofen, but if she does, she almost certainly buys the pink box variety. Daft I know, but I guess this is where the drug companies make their huge profits !

[mikey4444]

Here is the website for Feminax :::

http://www.feminax.co.uk/en/home/index.php

[wolf63]

I think that there is something else in the Feminax tablets. I can't remember what as it is years since I used it.

I can't take Ibuprofen but take Tesco Paracetamol and they are pretty cheap.

[mikey4444]

Wolfie....according to the website, Feminax contains just Ibuprofen and nothing else......From the website :::

"Feminax Express contains 342mg of ibuprofen lysine per tablet, equivalent to 200mg ibuprofen"

Perhaps that "something else" is the pink box !

[Sqad]

There is more to the beneficial effects of drugs than just their active ingredients.
Many studies have shown that if a patient gets relief from one type of drug, then changing it.s name or indeed it's colour, my have an impaired effect on the patient.
Even if the same drug is twice as expensive as the same drug with another name, then it is futile to try and reason with the patient.

There is more to medicine than just science.

[janbee]

My local co-op has a pack of 16 for 32p

[Dizmo]

Sqad: Isn't that the same as the Placebo effect?

[jim360]

I'd say a better way of phrasing it would be that there is more to medicine than "basic" science. A happier mood would translate into a higher prevalence of certain chemicals (such as dopamine*, for example, along with others) which could themselves facilitate recovery. That would still be scientific, no, sqad?

*Not dopamine, so far as I know, but you never know!

[Canary42]

"Many studies have shown ..."

All carried out by drug companies, or research facilities funded by same.

[wolf63]

Feminax contains a fast acting Ibuprofen.

"Ibuprofen lysine is a form of ibuprofen that is more soluble than regular ibuprofen. This means that it starts to work more quickly than regular ibuprofen tablets/caplets".

I had to buy an inhaler from the Chemist at full price - drugs are not cheap. It was a bit of an eye opener.

[Gromit]

// Why would anybody pay £4:35, //

Just guessing.
If you get your perscriptions free and are perscribed Ibufprofen, then your chemist will give you the most expensive version of the drug, because the Government (us taxpayers) will pay them for the drug.

[Sqad]

Dizmo....no, a placebo effect is demonstrated when one drug is assessed against an inactive form. In this case, both named drugs contain the active ingredient.

jim...;-)......exactly.

As an example, when i was young before the NHS we had a "clinic" doctor who was free, bUT despite the fact that we were a poor family, my grandma would always save up to see Dr Walker who was "private" and gave a much "better bottle" than the free, " Club doctor"

I could give you more examples even in our modern times.

[jim360]

No need for conspiracy theories here, Canary. Besides, a drug company wants its product to be effective because the product is effective. Adding colour or shape to a drug and finding that red pills work better than blue ones is, arguably, slightly annoying, because it shows that there's more going on than is fully understood.

For that matter, it's been shown that injecting salt-water is more effective than swallowing it, even though both ought to be equally useless! The reason presumably being that the patient thinks an injection is more "medical" than just an oral treatment. Even the shape of a pill can have an effect...

[Old_Geezer]

Branded goods always charge what the market will bear. There is no question of fairness in business, the system allows you to never give a sucker and even break.

[BlackadderV]

Whatever happened to Aspro, for when you were feeling one degree under?

[Old_Geezer]

Surely the NHS insists on prescription of generic wherever possible ?