My blog is almost always in Greek. This time though, I will write in English because I want my audience to be international. Well, if you wonder why Greece is bankrupt, I think that here you are going to read an important part of the answer:
A short presentation of myself first: My name is Argirios Argiriou. I have studied Medicine in Lund, Sweden and I
specialized in General Practice in Linkoping Sweden. Since 2005 I work as a
private General Practitioner in my hometown Kavala, Greece. I still work
though, as a locum doctor in Sweden for some weeks every year, and that helps
me to keep in touch with both the Greek and the Swedish clinical reality.
The last time I worked as a locum in Sweden was in Amal ( www.amal.se ) which is a municipality with 9000 inhabitants and only one pharmacy
while me birthplace in Greece, Hrisoupolis, (http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A7%CF%81%CF%85%CF%83%CE%BF%CF%8D%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B7_%CE%9A%CE%B1%CE%B2%CE%AC%CE%BB%CE%B1%CF%82 ) with about the same population as Amal, has 10
pharmacies.
On June the 29th, 2014 I did a price comparison between seven different generics in Greece and Sweden.
I got the prices ( Retail Prices ) of the Swedish generics from the online National Formulary of Sweden www.fass.se ( You can see them, all the way down on the pages that open from the following Swedish links. Wherever you see the symbol - means integer in Swedish kronor. For example 52 - means 52 kronor . Unlike the : means that it will follow a decimal number eg 54:50 means 54.5 kronor ) .
I got the prices (also Retail Prices ) of the Greek generics from the site www.galinos.gr which is a private but well updated site that a lot of Greek Doctors use in order to find out the prices of the medicines that they prescribe.
On 29 June 2014, 100 Swedish Crones (SEK) = 10,88 Euro .
For medicines for chronic diseases, such as the following medicines, the
packaging is usually 28 or 30 tablets/box in Greece, while in Sweden the
packaging is usually of 98 or 100 tablets/box.
Since a similar comparison that I did in September 2013 the Greek
medicines are a little bit cheaper but still much more expensive than the
Swedish ones:
Omeprazole.
In Sweden the Caps. Omeprazole Teva 20 mg x 98 (i.e. a box with 98 capsules of Omeprazole Teva 20 mg), costs 59 SEK = 6,4 Euro
Omeprazole.
In Sweden the Caps. Omeprazole Teva 20 mg x 98 (i.e. a box with 98 capsules of Omeprazole Teva 20 mg), costs 59 SEK = 6,4 Euro
when
In Greece the Caps. Penrazol 20 mg x 28 costs 13 Euro
Ie the generic Omeprazole is 610 % more expensive in Greece than in Sweden.
Simvastatin.
In Sweden Tabl. Simvastatin Krka 40 mg x 100 costing 69.5 SEK = 7,56 Euro
http://www.fass.se/LIF/product?userType=0&nplId=20041018000310
when
In Greece the Tabl. Extrastatin 40 mg x 30 costs 18,05 euros
Ie the generic Simvastatin is 695 % more expensive in Greece than in Sweden.
Atorvastatin
In Sweden Tabl. Atorvastatin Bluefish 20 mg x 100 costs 58 SEK = 6,31 Euro
http://www.fass.se/LIF/product?userType=0&nplId=20091210000151
when
In Greece the Tabl. Atorstat 20 mg x 30 costs 14,90 Euro
http://www.galinos.gr/web/drugs/main/packages/10934#content
Ie the generic Atorvastatin is 687 % more expensive in Greece than in Sweden.
Finasteride
In Sweden Tabl. Finasterid Teva 5 mg x 100 costs 92 SEK = 10,00 Euro
when
In Greece the Tabl. Finastir 5 mg x 30 costs 12 euros
http://www.galinos.gr/web/drugs/main/packages/12185#content
Ie generic Finasteride is 300 % more expensive in Greece than in Sweden
Risperidone
In Sweden Tabl. Risperidon Teva 1 mg x 60 costs 59 SEK = 6,41 Euro
when
In Greece the Tabl. Rispelen 1 mg x 20 costs 7,01 Euro
Ie generic Risperidone is 228 % more expensive in Greece than in Sweden.
Olanzapine
In Sweden Tabl. Olanzapine Teva 10 mg x 56 costing 61,50 SEK = 6,69 Euro.
when
In Greece the Tabl.Villamos 10 mg x 28 cost 41,05 Euros.
http://www.galinos.gr/web/drugs/main/packages/19008#content
Ie generic Olanzapine is 1127 % more expensive in Greece than in Sweden.
Citalopram
In Sweden Tabl. Citalopram Sandoz 20 mg x 100 costing 57 SEK = 6,2 Euro.
when
In Greece the Tabl. Seror 20 mg x 28 cost 9,92 Euros.
http://www.galinos.gr/web/drugs/main/packages/15120#content
Ie generic Citalopram is 471 % more expensive in Greece than in Sweden.
Even generics that are produced in Greece, can be found with a reduced
price in Sweden: For example, a generic named "Rolenium 50/500"
(produced in Greece by ELPEN http://www.elpen.gr) that costs 48.3€ in Greece,
is imported to Sweden by "Bluefish Pharma" under the name Relanio and
has price: 46.2€ (424.5 SEK). In this image:
http://www.relanio.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Forpackning-framifran.png
at the left down side you can see the ELPEN's brandname.
http://www.fass.se/LIF/product?userType=0&nplId=20100423000091
Does the Greek Government really want to reduce the
cost of pharmaceutical expenditure in Greece ?
Then why don’t they reduce the price of generic drugs at Swedish levels?
Postscript : The fact that the prices of generics are held so high, flares on the over-prescribing of medicines by some corrupt doctors. (The larger the super-profits the larger the kickbacks to the Doctors ..)
Then why don’t they reduce the price of generic drugs at Swedish levels?
Postscript : The fact that the prices of generics are held so high, flares on the over-prescribing of medicines by some corrupt doctors. (The larger the super-profits the larger the kickbacks to the Doctors ..)
3 comments:
Dear friends
I think this comparison was just amazing to read and really important to get a better understanding of the Greek profound economical problem. These type of facts must be spread not least to Greek politicians and also health care workers!
Excellent Agge!
These kind of facts are well-known to Greek politicians and health care workers who are the ones who have created this mess after all for their own interests. These kind of facts must be spread to the TROIKA and European/German officials in order to press the Greek government to make the necessary reforms.
Not only corrupt doctors, but corrupt politicians and managers of Common Welfare organizations as well.That's the truth! Don't forget the list being changed every 6 months!
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