Reviewing Pharmacy Markups / Active Ingredient Issues / Product Groups
Recently, the media has highlighted how drug manufacturers and wholesalers optimize expenses related to medications, including rebates, etc. Amidst all this, the pharmacy pricing reform has clearly been sidelined. Pharmacy markups were established over 20 years ago, and we have now reached a point where it is easier, simpler, and more profitable to introduce, advertise, and sell various health products other than medications. This is not acceptable in evidence-based medicine. Health products are moving out of pharmacies, where they can be sold by anyone; markups are generally not restricted either. When it comes to medications, we have reached a stage where patients, and sometimes even pharmacists, cannot differentiate between product groups, and the “invisible hand” drives pharmacies to sell everything but medications. This sector needs reform led by people who are not “cronies” or self-serving politicians. Otherwise, we will increasingly enter a grey area where people know more about cosmetic creams than available medications. People’s self-treatment decisions are not well-founded, and they overpay because medication advertising is restricted, while other product groups are not adequately regulated or controlled. Sharing information about medications by pharmacists has been labeled as advertising. If we could influence all of this, we might be the first in Europe.
Pharmacists must have sufficient education to distinguish between medical devices, dietary supplements, biocides, cosmetics, and medications.
Pharmacists must be allowed to talk about medications without it being considered advertising.
Using brand names of products in the media by pharmacists must be allowed (people do not know active ingredients); Baltic packaging requirements allowing the active ingredient to be listed in Latin on the packaging need to be reviewed. The notation of active ingredient salts on the packaging needs to be reviewed (if saying “diclofenac” is already difficult, then “diclofenac sodium” gives patients the impression that it is a completely new product).
Recently added ideas
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7 thoughts about the healthcare sector’s main problems
- Health concerns are not solved by the healthcare sector alone in the big picture, but rather by the economic success of society and the understanding at all levels of society that investing in health is worthwhile.
- Considering the current state of healthcare in Estonia, the idea of a mega-hospital …
- Supported 14
- Don't believe in the idea 10
Emergency services for a fee
- Supported 12
- Don't believe in the idea 7
Additional suggestions
…and what to do with medicines that are not suitable? The expenses have been incurred, but if the medicine is unsuitable, the benefit is zero. These medicines should be returnable, or a few should simply be provided as samples.
Doctors should also have more information and knowledge about the effects and interactions of medicines for different diseases. It is not acceptable for a doctor to prescribe medication based solely on a diagnosis without considering what medications the patient is already taking and the potential outcomes of taking these medications together. Patients often only find out at the pharmacy or after the first dose that the prescribed medication is not suitable for them. The result is a deterioration in the patient’s health, the need for further tests and doctor visits, and in the worst case, hospitalization. To prevent this, patients should be given recommendations on what else to do to solve the problem (improve their well-being) and what to avoid.
In summary, the patient’s health should be approached as a whole, as the functioning of all organs is closely interconnected, and any symptoms can manifest in a variety of diseases.