Price of medicines

Sir, – Reading Pat Dignam (September 4th) on the issue of the cost of medicines in Ireland and Spain, I would have been interested…

Sir, – Reading Pat Dignam (September 4th) on the issue of the cost of medicines in Ireland and Spain, I would have been interested to read how the price of medicines on the sunshine coast of Australia, where he resides, compares to the price in Ireland.

Atorvastatin is not prescription-only across the EU and certainly not in Spain, where I regularly purchase a six-month supply from a fully qualified pharmacist from one of the large national chains that operate all over the country. The generic version that I get is a full €30 per pack cheaper than the medicine made in Ireland and is produced by one of the world’s largest generic medicine producers from its factory in Holland.

However, the betametasone cream that I occasionally need is exactly the same one – same packaging, same trade name, same factory – that I can buy in Ireland for €9.80 per tube on prescription only, but which costs €3.31 over the counter in Spain, and again with no need for a €50 visit to the doctor. – Yours, etc,

DAMIAN GILL,

Bulloch Harbour,

Dalkey, Co Dublin.