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Medication prices


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8 hours ago, phil in mexico said:

 Stop by a pharmacy near a major hotel in Chapala to pick medication and the price seemed extremely high, i called a friend that was going to buy the same meds and he purchased it at 100. Pesos less from the same pharmacy just different locations, this pharmacy is located in a new hospital , wondering why????? FYI 

Maybe the clerk is taking their cut off the top, because you are an extranjero and are too trusting to notice the difference. Lots of extranjeros get scammed because they never pay attention. 1001 reasons.

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There is an embossed price at one end of the box of most medications. That is the regulated maximum price that any Farmacia can charge. Many, many Farmacias put a sticker over that price. Be smart, stand your ground. I did in Walmart and got the embossed price. That said, there are also many Farmacias that offer discounts and are knowledgeable about generics (not similares which may contain different ingredients). Farmacia Maskaras is now my go to. Ivan is knowledgeable AND they offer great discounts.

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2 hours ago, Ferret said:

There is an embossed price at one end of the box of most medications. That is the regulated maximum price that any Farmacia can charge. Many, many Farmacias put a sticker over that price. Be smart, stand your ground. I did in Walmart and got the embossed price. That said, there are also many Farmacias that offer discounts and are knowledgeable about generics (not similares which may contain different ingredients). Farmacia Maskaras is now my go to. Ivan is knowledgeable AND they offer great discounts.

Are you saying the generics at Farmacia Similares don't contain the same ingredients as the name brand version? I guess the name says it all: "Similares" signifies similar but not the same?

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1 minute ago, InChapala1 said:

Are you saying the generics at Farmacia Similares don't contain the same ingredients as the name brand version? I guess the name says it all: "Similares" signifies similar but not the same?

I was under the assumption that what they sell are called Generic drugs. And are those not supposed to be exact copies of drugs whose patents have expired? 

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8 minutes ago, gringohombre said:

I was under the assumption that what they sell are called Generic drugs. And are those not supposed to be exact copies of drugs whose patents have expired? 

You are correct.  Farmacia Similares   From their website:

"Generic Medicine is called a pharmaceutical specialty with the same drug or active substance, with the same concentration or potency, that uses the same route of administration and that, through the required regulatory tests, has verified that its pharmacopoeic specifications, dissolution profiles or bioavailability or other parameters, as the case may be, are equivalent to those of the reference medicine."  The Generics offered in Farmacia Similares have the quality conditions that the law indicates at a lower price, always to the benefit of the family economy.

" Farmacias Similares has a Quality Control Department that guarantees the manufacture of each product for your health. The packaging of a Generic contains the name of the active substance and is even branded and followed by the name of the manufacturing laboratory."

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Firstly, I buy generic drugs from Farmacia Similares and use both the Chapala and Ajijic stores.  The prices seem to be, if not exactly the same, very close.

Non-generic drugs I buy from Farmacia GDL in Chapala.  The same drug store in Ajijic always seems to have higher drug prices than the Chapala store.  I would not venture to Jocotepec for drugs and the cost of gasoline would be more than the savings on drugs.

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Ferret. Maybe I can help. About ten years ago there was a scandal involving three companies in Guadalajara who were selling fake generics with their own packaging, etc. It was a very dangerous event because the companies often packaged one placebo pill for every full medication pill, for example. The Jalisco and Federal governments came down on them very hard, with big fines and prison time. They also hired many more inspectors, who were also themselves inspected to greatly reduce chances of corruption. The bad actors today, stick to illegal drugs, like meth. One of the major ingredients is Ephedrine, which grows abundantly in Mexico as a wild weed. Partly because of this, Ephedrin, which is highly effective allergy and sinus medicine, is banned in Mexico. Quinine is also banned, because poor women were using it as an abortion pill. Quinine was used to treat some forms of malaria, but it is also an effective treatment for many people suffering from muscle cramps and spasms. You can still import Quinine bark from the USA which afficionados use to make their own tonic water.

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8 minutes ago, happyjillin said:

I always buy branded after the Pfizer debacle in the UK in the 60's with a generic Tetracycline.In simple terms think about this- Coca Cola can easily be chemically analyzed yet nobody has ever duplicated it.

Water, sugar (a lot) and cocaine....    

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Coca Cola is an easy one. The secret ingredient is a lime leaf, probably Makrut Lime, and they import large quantities from the Carribean. They used to import a lot of coca leaves, they were shipped to a waterfront warehouse just south of Puerto Vallarta. The ruins are still there. Now do you want to know how they get the caramel in Caramilk bars?

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38 minutes ago, happyjillin said:

I always buy branded after the Pfizer debacle in the UK in the 60's with a generic Tetracycline.In simple terms think about this- Coca Cola can easily be chemically analyzed yet nobody has ever duplicated it.

Generic drugs are not duplicated by being analyzed.  When a medicine comes "off patent"  the exact formula and whole process is publicly available. 

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2 hours ago, EldonNova said:

Firstly, I buy generic drugs from Farmacia Similares and use both the Chapala and Ajijic stores.  The prices seem to be, if not exactly the same, very close.

Non-generic drugs I buy from Farmacia GDL in Chapala.  The same drug store in Ajijic always seems to have higher drug prices than the Chapala store.  I would not venture to Jocotepec for drugs and the cost of gasoline would be more than the savings on drugs.

I have bought Generic from Farm GDL that were actually cheaper than Dr. Simi's. Not all, but several.

 

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PharmaLife is a great generic manufacturer, offered in several different meds at GDL Farmacia.

 

When I first arrived here 10 yrs ago, I was cautioned by a few people not to buy from Similares because the rap back then was that similaries are not equivalent to patented drugs, as generics are supposed to be.  

So, are the above references saying that similaries are equivalent to brand names, as generics are supposed to be?

 

I know --when in doubt, always read the label prior to buying !!

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8 minutes ago, mexijims1 said:

PharmaLife is a great generic manufacturer, offered in several different meds at GDL Farmacia.

 

So, are the above references saying that similaries are equivalent to brand names, as generics are supposed to be?

 

 

As posted earlier the Similares website says basically that in more legal terms

"Generic Medicine is called a pharmaceutical specialty with the same drug or active substance, with the same concentration or potency, that uses the same route of administration and that, through the required regulatory tests, has verified that its pharmacopoeic specifications, dissolution profiles or bioavailability or other parameters, as the case may be, are equivalent to those of the reference medicine."  The Generics offered in Farmacia Similares have the quality conditions that the law indicates at a lower price, always to the benefit of the family economy.

" Farmacias Similares has a Quality Control Department that guarantees the manufacture of each product for your health. The packaging of a Generic contains the name of the active substance and is even branded and followed by the name of the manufacturing laboratory."

 

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The confusion is that some "Drug Stores" such as Guadalajara and Cristina's dispense prescription drugs but also sell generics. Of course they make more profit off the prescriptions so "maybe" will not advise that generics are also available. I have been going to Cristina's for years and they know me, so feel they are upfront with me in this regard. When not available there I make the extended trip (and foul parking) to Similares in Ajijic.  

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On 8/18/2021 at 1:32 PM, InChapala1 said:

Are you saying the generics at Farmacia Similares don't contain the same ingredients as the name brand version? I guess the name says it all: "Similares" signifies similar but not the same?

Generics never have the same ingredients as the name brand. They are supposed to have the same main active ingredient, but the buffers they use are different. In my experience some of them are a waste of money, as they don't work well. But some generics perform quite well. However, I don't buy any at Farmacias Similares, as a neurologist told me to stay away from them, that their products are inferior. YMMV.

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I was working on my taxes and just checked what I paid in the US for a 90 day supply of Clopidogrel (75mg). The price in 2020 was $7.06 for the first 3 quarters and increased to $7.79 for the 4th quarter. That seems like a very low price. But that is the price offered to my insurance company, Humana and was passed on to me. This is the actual price, because Humana did not offer to pay anything for this medication.

Yes, Humana gets you great retail prices for the meds that the Doctor has chosen for me, but sadly Humana helps pay for only about 1/2 of those Rx's my doctor prescribes to me.

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