Heather RobinsonWHEN WAS the last time you visited a pharmacy to fill a prescription given to you by a doctor? Did you proceed to the nearest and most convenient pharmacy? Or did you just go to the one with which you are most comfortable? Did you make any telephone calls before to find out whether the drugs were available and at what prices?
Well, the time has now come when you should definitely be spending the five or ten minutes to make a few phone calls to determine the price of the drugs. An examination of some of the most commonly used drugs proves very revealing. The highest (mark-up) of 256 per cent is for Nizoral cream to a low (mark-up) of 70 per cent for Augmentin 625MG which is found in a sample of over 50 pharmacies.
The second highest mark-up of 202 per cent is for Augmentin Tab 625 Mg (an antibiotic) and this is followed by Nizoral cream (anti-fungal) with a mark-up of 179 per cent. The table that is provided gives some additional data. The reality of these mark-ups is so significant that it could prove fatal for many unsuspecting Jamaicans. Fatal, because if persons who are in desperate need of medication to assist in their recovery from serious illnesses, or to maintain their health at a manageable level, are unable to buy prescribed drugs because of these excessively high costs, then certainly death becomes a living reality.
Someone needs to explain why these mark-ups are so excessive, and why some are able to maintain their prices with a 70 to 80 per cent mark-up. Pharmacists will argue that they have differing levels of overheads. Can the gap be really that large to necessitate such high mark-ups? There is no control mechanism that the Government can put in place to protect the public, and therefore members of the public need to begin to find their own means of protecting themselves.
I would like to suggest some simple things we can do to protect ourselves. The first thing we need to do when the doctor writes the prescription is to ensure that if we are unable to read it, we should ask the doctor to spell the name of the drug, the amount to be taken and its frequency. We should write this down so we will be able to make the telephone call when we have left the doctor's office. A simple call to three or four pharmacies for the cost of the drug is the next step. Once you have done this for a few times you will find that it gets easier and especially those persons who are on maintenance drugs will find this information especially useful. The third thing to do once you have identified the best pharmacy at which to fill your prescription is "TELL YOUR CO-WORKERS AND FRIENDS". Good news like this will travel fast and will be beneficial and improve the health of every Jamaican.
If it is that these mark-ups of 256 per cent, 202 per cent, 179 per cent and 134 per cent are considered as sure death triggers for the Jamaican people, the only way we can send a message to these pharmacies is to stop purchasing from them. Like human beings that have a projected mortality, so do drugs have a shelf life, at the end of which they have to be discarded. So if we do not buy from the very expensive pharmacies, and over time they are forced to discard stock that they have purchased, then surely they will be forced to reduce their prices. When a patient is only able to purchase a half of the antibiotic prescribed because the mark-up is 202 per cent instead of 73 per cent then surely this patient has every right to feel like they have been robbed, and possibly robbed of life. Our sick are vulnerable, and those of us who can, should seek to protect them from anyone who poses a threat to their good health.
Heather Robinson is a Senior Life Under-writer and former Member of Parliament.
