PARALLEL UNIVERSES - Latest Comments in Why Medicines in the Philippines are Expensive

Re: Why Medicines in the Philippines are Expensive

mari9 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:32:29 -0000

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!

Re: Why Medicines in the Philippines are Expensive

bayi — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:35:21 -0000

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.

Re: Why Medicines in the Philippines are Expensive

rolly — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:55:26 -0000

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.

Re: Why Medicines in the Philippines are Expensive

Dr. Emer — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:50:14 -0000

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.

Re: Why Medicines in the Philippines are Expensive

cebuphilippinesexpat — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:23:56 -0000

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...

Re: Why Medicines in the Philippines are Expensive

budbrown — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:06:48 -0000

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.