Misleading packaging

Countries have long been ripped off as regards medicine, and many other examples.

Not heard about car emissions.

The NHS is really ripped off over medicines.
Even branded very expensive medications are sold cheaper to other countries by the pharmaceutical companies.

Yes, apparently the 16p packets of headache tablets are just as effective as the branded ones costing about £2.

If laws are brought in which will affect the profits of companies, you can bet they will find a way round them - but I am shocked at the car emissions scandal.

This is really not a new observation.
In my experience the NHS has used the generic medication for years where it is available. I am very surprised that others have not twigged this long ago.

Have we all become a nation of brand addicts? If you are taking any medication it is worth looking at the actual ingredients not the brand name.

This has been going on for years A whole lot of non branded over the counter drugs (OTCs) are now available. There are generic versions of all OTC pain killers. I always buy the generic version by the name of the drug and not the brand. The cost of these Big Brands are just dreadful.

This is not rocket science the slogan "Nothing acts faster than Anadin" only claims it is no faster at relieving pain than any other similar product. It is only misleading by inference.

I buy generic paracetamol caplets for 50p for 32 the maximum number allowed in one purchase.
Generic Paracetamol 500mg Caplets x 16 for £0.25
Anadin 500mg paracetamol at £1.20 for 16 caplets. Five times the price
A B*** rip off.

*Branded. Solpadeine Max, (Paracetamol 500mg and Codeine Phosphate 8mg.) - 30 Tablets £6.30.

*Generic. Co-codamol (Paracetamol 500mg and Codeine Phosphate 8mg.) 32 Tablets only £1.29.

Solpadeine is not a drug it's a brand. I have not bought branded pain killers for years unless there has been no alternative.

I agree, Nellie. Even though the information has been out there for years now, some people still insist on branded products, presumably because they don't believe that a packet of tablets costing 32p can possibly be as effective as a packet of Anadin at around £2.00.

I haven't bought branded painkillers for years either, although I will admit to wasting money on Beechams Powders occasionally - just because I love the taste!

Nellie, you wouldn't believe the % of patients who refuse to be prescribed any generic medication, as they believe they are not so good! costing the NHS billions which could be used elsewhere.

The simplest paracetamol in packs of 32 will be on our llist when the visit the UK, as the price is about 10 times less than here in Switzerland. The local chemists' agrees to sell us more as he knows we live abroad and I try to keep off anti-anflammatories despite being pain with my knee.

Ahhh Beechams powders- I used to get them free when I worked there in 1970- happy days.

If you buy generic Paracetamol from the pharmacist granjura (not off the shelves but from the counter) you can get a big box of tablets, even cheaper.
Same goes for generic Ibuprofen rather than Neurofen etc. comes in 100mg and 200mg strengths and Asprin.

I never ever buy branded meds. Doc prescribed me ibuprofen 400mg and I said I'd buy them. Buy 200mg and take two. Doc said no, if he prescribed he'd have a record he'd know how much I used.
This meant pharmacist got paid to dispense...much more than I'd pay in supermarket which would have been no cost to NHS.

although I will admit to wasting money on Beechams Powders occasionally - just because I love the taste!
OMG Ana are you addicted?

They will only sell you a limited number of paracetamol in this country - is it 32? (although of course you could go to the next shop and buy more). However, in some countries you can buy enough to kill a horse all in one go.

Yes we always ask to speak to the pharmacist, explain we live abroad and need to buy more than the 32- and he agrees. We will go several times over our stay, and get ipobrufen as well- although I only use those when things are really bad. If I run out, I go and buy in France- still much more than UK, but a lot less than here!

When I said 'occasionally' I meant once every couple of years or so rose!

Yes, 32 is the limit, but as you say you could buy 100s if you visited several outlets.

Thank goodness Ana

Mr P recently had a cold so bad he actually asked me to get him some tablets

Lemsip Cold & Flu Max capsules £4 a pack

Morrisons own brand, with exactly the same ingredients, in exactly the same proportions, £1.60.

Just wanted to remind people how few paracetamol are needed to cause irreversible liver damage and death. Do NOT exceed the recommended dosage. I found this out the hard way when a family member overdosed - 24 hrs in intensive care but fortunately survived. I don't really like having them in the house. I'm sure you are all sensible but it's a leading cause of self harm in younger people who may not realise that their "cry for help" may be fatal even if they are found and treated.

Of course- for me though, paracetamol, in low dosage, is a lot less dangerous long-term than diclofenac or other anti-inflammatories.

In all the schools are taught at, the risk of paracetamol overdose being irreversible were well taught to all.

All packets containing medicines have to state what the active ingredients are, don't they? And the dosage of each tablet or spoonful. So if one reads what the active ingredients are, one won't be 'taken in'. I feel it's just the same as reading what the ingredients are in fancy food packaging.

If doctors give in to patients demanding non-generic medicines, more fool the doctors for not explaining things properly. My several GPs in several places have always prescribed me generic medicines.

Mind you, when DD1 was small and the doc suggested I give her Calpol, I asked him to write it down cos I'd never heard of it. I think he thought I was trying it on because he wrote me a prescription for her. Why didn't he just tell me it is infant paracetamol syrup? Silly man.

Ana you can buy more Paracetamol (64 or96 ) over the counter in this country, I've been doing it for the last 3 years. It has to be approved by the pharmacist but not a problem in Boots, supermarkets with prescribing pharmacists or chemists.

Some people do get a placebo effect from the branded products and do actually get a better result from them. I'm quite happy with bog standard generic. I recently saw a man throwing a fit in the pharmacy because his regular pills had come from a different supplier and the packet was a different colour!. The pharmacist did his best but couldn't really convince him that they were the same thing.

I saw a doctor on TV recently saying not to rush out and buy expensive cold and flu cures, but to think about what symptoms you have. If your cold gives you a headache take a painkiller; if you have a stuffed up nose use a decongestant - you don't necessarily need all the ingredients in the cold cure.

To be fair, some prescribed tablets can differ in their effect purely by the coating (I'm not talking about over the counter remedies).

I did have an adverse reaction to one particular brand of my regular medication and my GP said it was quite common. However, GPs can't prescribe a certain brand, it depends on whatever the dispensing chemist has in stock.

If nothing else some of this stuff shows how effective the placebo effect is in medicine.

"One painkiller was described on the packet as "fast acting" but it was no different from a product under the same brand that had no such "fast acting" description. One painkiller was labelled "for the treatment of migraine" and the very same painkiller was labelled "for the treatment of period pain". "

Check the product licence number. If it's the same number, it the same product.

"Even branded very expensive medications are sold cheaper to other countries by the pharmaceutical companies."

Wouldn't it be a scandal if they weren't? AFAIK there was a lot of negotiating and arm twisting went on to get them to discount expensive drugs to poor countries who couldn't otherwise afford them.

There are some meds where the NHS advise not to switch the manufacturer. My Diltiazem is one.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Medicinesinfo/Pages/Brandnamesandgenerics.aspx

Yes, that's what the news items said crun - check the licence number and all products with that licence number will be exactly the same.

So the problem is not that people are being misled but that people don't or won't understand the information that is freely available.

I'm a bit puzzled as to any confusion caused by something that is sold as effective against migraine and period pains. Why wouldn't a painkiller be expected to help with pain caused by different things? It's still pain and painkillers do not vary all that much (yes, I know about different types, but we're essentially talking about over the counter opioid types and antiinflammatory types here) in how they tackle the sensation of pain.

I agree thatbags- us the customers also have a responsibility to inform ourselves and read the labels- and make informed choices.

I always ask for the simplest form and cheapest paracetamol and ipobrufen- in larger amounts- as they are just effective. People buy all sorts of products with a massive mark up totally un-necessarily, like bottled water for instance. A choice.

thatbags So presenting exactly the same product in two different types of packaging, one bearing the claim that it is "fast acting" - and charging more for that product - isn't misleading? I believe it is intentionally misleading and the only reason for doing it is to get more money out of someone whilst providing nothing extra for the higher charge.

There are so many examples of these sorts of questionable practices and I find it amazing that you deem them to be acceptable.

I notice that you use terms like "opioid" and "anti-inflammatory", which means that you have more knowledge of the subject than a lot of people. The more education and knowledge a person has, the more wary they are of marketing techniques and the more ability they have to dig a bit deeper. Why should we not be able to trust manufacturers' claims and why should we accept that they will use any device in order to make more money - with the onus being on us to detect such devious practices?