The National Consumer Agency (NCA) deserves some credit for exposing the sometimes alarmingly high differentials which exist in the cost of prescription drugs across the State but a good deal more needs to be done to ensure consumers and taxpayers are protected from an ad hoc pricing system completely devoid of transparency. Its latest survey published yesterday shows the price of identical prescription drugs can vary by over 200 per cent, depending on where they are bought in this State. The Irish Pharmacy Union has, bizarrely, welcomed the report's findings and claims that these wild price discrepancies are indicative of a healthy and competitive market. But for people unfortunate enough to shop in the high-priced pharmacies, the news is anything but good.
The NCA says that the report highlights the need for people to shop around. But do people really shop around for prescription drugs? It is not easy when you are buying unfamiliar products with unfamiliar names, particularly if you are under the weather as many of those who present prescriptions to their local pharmacist are. Instead of shopping around they place their trust in medical professionals and hope that trust is not betrayed. It now appears that for too many Irish consumers that trust is misplaced.
And this is not simply an issue for individual consumers. It also has grave implications for the economy as a whole. While successive budgets have done much to eat into the relief offered by the State to those who need to buy prescription drugs there is still some financial assistance. Under the Drug Payment Scheme, families only pay up to a maximum of €144 a month for prescription drugs after which the HSE picks up the tab. The reality is that ceiling is being reached much quicker in the more expensive pharmacies which means the taxpayer is effectively rewarding the pharmacists who charge their customers more. Such a system is clearly not healthy and will need to be addressed urgently.