Branded medicines sold for up to 10 times the cost
- Study claims drug companies are selling the same medicines in different boxes
- Nuromol – ibuprofen and paracetamol mixed – is 10 times price of separate drugs
- But in defence of drug firms, PAGB’s John Smith said it is due to ‘heritage of trust’
Ben Spencer for the Daily Mail
540
View
comments
Drug firms are selling exactly the same medicines for wildly different prices in different packaging, an investigation found.
Consumer watchdog Which? exposed cases where branded medicines are sold for as much as ten times the price of bargain versions – despite the drugs being identical.
Other companies drum up business by selling their treatments in different boxes – suggesting they have different uses – despite the contents being the same.
Which? also found some firms charge a huge premium to mix very cheap treatments into combination pills.
Painkiller Nuromol, combining ibuprofen and paracetamol, costs £6.99 for a box of 24 – 29p per pill. This is around ten times more expensive than taking two separate pills that amount to the same dose
-
¿She will never know the pain she has caused¿: Family reveal…
Sniff sentence: Judge smells cannabis on man who sneaked it…
Consumer watchdog Which? exposed cases where branded medicines are sold for as much as ten times the price of bargain versions – despite the drugs being identical
The most common money-making scheme was selling medication for which there is little evidence.
Richard Headland, of Which? magazine, said: ‘We found you’re sometimes wasting your money … as there is a lack of evidence that they work and there are cheaper alternatives.’
Which? experts found no published research on the efficacy of glycerol (which is in benylin) as an acute cough treatment
A panel including a GP, an academic pharmacist, an optometrist, toothpaste experts and a dietitian assessed products for Which?.
They found £4.50 Sudafed Day Night Capsules for colds and flu – containing paracetamol, decongestant phenylephrine and caffeine – are no different from those sold by budget store Wilko’s at 95p.
Painkiller Nuromol, combining ibuprofen and paracetamol, costs £6.99 for a box of 24 – 29p per pill. This is around ten times more expensive than taking two separate pills that amount to the same dose.
Generic versions of paracetamol and ibuprofen cost as little as 45p for two boxes of 16 – just 3p for two pills, one of each drug. Other brands, including Combogesic, use the same tactic, selling their ibuprofen-paracetamol combination for £3.99 for a box of 16.
The researchers also highlighted the case of Otrivine, which sells its £3.50 nasal spray in three different boxes – labelled for allergies, congestion and sinusitis – yet they are medically identical.
Which? said: ‘This type of rebadging is allowed by the regulator, but we think that it’s fundamentally misleading for anyone who doesn’t read the small print on the back of the box.’ The Proprietary Association of Great Britain, representing manufacturers of over-the-counter drugs, said firms are breaking no rules and have the right to charge prices that reflect customers’ trust in their brands.
The panel found £4.50 Sudafed Day Night Capsules for colds and flu – containing paracetamol, decongestant phenylephrine and caffeine – are no different from those sold by budget store Wilko’s at 95p
PAGB’s John Smith said: ‘Branded over-the-counter medicines enjoy a long-standing heritage of trust … For a medicine to be granted a licence, manufacturers must provide robust evidence to show it is effective before it can be sold in pharmacies and other retail stores.’
But Which? said: ‘It’s not always easy to decide which over-the-counter medicines and products such as cough medicine, eye wash and cold and flu remedies are worth your cash. Our research has found many cases where you could buy far cheaper alternatives that work just as well.
‘We want companies to be more open in showing us their evidence, but in the meantime, be sure to ask the pharmacist any questions about the products, and check the key active ingredients to see if you can find a cheaper alternative.’
Share or comment on this article
- Battle of Waterloo: Thousands fight to leave London for…
- How did so many of today’s students turn into snowflakes,…
- British paramedics to start carrying antidote to deadly…
- Fright move! Three-bed family home for sale at £140,000…
- Police chief suggests non-English speaking victims of…
- ‘I can’t remember a single murder at Glastonbury’: Top…
- ‘It’s me or your boyfriend!’ In his own words, how Bruce…
- One less BA67 TRD on the road! DVLA bans hundreds of…
- What a pro! Reporter melts hearts as he politely carries…
- ‘Evil won’t stop me’: Chloe Ayling thanks fans with a…
- Singaporean grandmother, 53, who was slammed in a…
- Warming up for a big weekend! Reading and Leeds…
- Why the little girl in this happy family photo can’t bear…
- Number of EU nationals applying for British citizenship…
- Aldi defends its decision to close a till to customers…
- Spanish hotel chain calls in police after claiming nearly…
- Bisexual Virgin air hostess, 25, claims bosses forced her…
- Carling ‘lied about the amount of alcohol in its lager’:…
Comments 540
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Close
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.
Close
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual
We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.
You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.