DISQUS

PARALLEL UNIVERSES: Why Medicines in the Philippines are Expensive

  • budbrown · 5 months ago
    Thank you for this article. A friend of mine just told me how expensive medicine was in the Philippines. Now I have a better understanding why.
  • cebuphilippinesexpat · 5 months ago
    Myself and everyone I know who visits the Philippines complains of high medicine costs in general. Lack of competition is one problem, pressure from the multi-nationals is another. Generics certainly need to play a bigger role...
  • Dr. Emer · 5 months ago
    We also have a Generics law here since the 1990s.

    It does NOT work also. Most people here think that generic medicines are not as effective as the branded ones. Lack of information and poor marketing are factors also.
  • rolly · 5 months ago
    It's so sad that medicine's prices can skyrocket wantonly. If only diseases can be selective and afflict only those that can afford medication. Unfortunately, this is not the case. What a pity for those who can only afford food for the day. They will just have to suffer some more.
  • bayi · 5 months ago
    Powerful pharmacies conspire to keep critical drugs expensive, partly because of the great amounts on money spent on research and mostly because of the greed for profits. I think India is doing great to produce more generic drugs.
  • mari9 · 5 months ago
    Vitamins are expensive here. Centrum for example: Mercury Drug sells it at Php9/tablet. In the states, I bought a big bottle of 180 tabs. If I convert the price to Php, it's Php3/tab. What a rip-off!