Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
The European Journal of Health Economics
Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics 4/2004

01-11-2004 | Original paper

The high cost of medicines in Ireland

Is it time to change the pricing mechanism?

Authors: Lesley Tilson, Bernadette McGowan, Kathleen Bennett, Michael Barry

Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics | Issue 4/2004

Login to get access

Abstract

This study compared the prices of prescription medicines in Ireland to those in other countries to determine potential cost savings on the largest community drug scheme if an alternative pricing mechanism were adopted. The analysis covered a sample of 39 drugs (44.8% of the total ingredient cost) selected from the top 70 drugs in order of total ingredient cost. Potential cost savings ranged from € 20.73 million if a Danish price were adopted, to € 16.23 million for the average European price, to € 6.82 million for the UK price. The estimated savings were statistically significant for the Danish and average European price but not for the UK price. This study demonstrates the high ex-wholesale price of prescription medications in Ireland.
Literature
1.
Kanavos P (2002) Pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement in Europe. In: Scrip reports, regulatory affairs report series: PJB. pp 37–39
2.
Department of Health and Children (1993) Agreement between the Federation of Irish Chemical Industries and the Department of Health on supply terms, conditions and prices of medicines supplied to the health services
3.
Brennan N et al. (2003) Commission on Financial Management and Control Systems in the Health Service. Department of Health and Children. Available at: http://​www.​doh.​ie
4.
Deloitte & Touche in conjunction with the York Health Economics Consortium (2001) Value for money audit of the Irish health system. Department of Health and Children. Available at: http://​www.​doh.​ie
5.
Martikainen J, Kivi I, Linnosmaa I (2004) European prices of newly launched reimbursable pharmaceuticals—a pilot study. Submitted to Health Policy
6.
Folino-Gallo P, Walley T, Frolich JC, Carvajal A, Edwards IR (2001) Availability of medicines in the European Union: results from the Euro-Medicines project. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 57:441–446CrossRefPubMed
7.
Euro-Med Stat Group (2003) Monitoring expenditure and utilisation of medicinal products in the European Union countries: a Public Health approach. Eur J Public Health 13:1–6
8.
Bryan J (2004) Will new deal lead to lower drug prices? Pharm J 272:568
9.
Anonymous (2001) Guide to European pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement systems. Urch Publishing Ltd, pp 36–180
10.
11.
Gross D (2003) Prescription drug prices in Canada. Public Policy Institute, AARP, pp 1–22
12.
Danzon PM, Kim JD (1998) International price comparisons for pharmaceuticals: measurement and policy issues. Pharmacoeconomics 14:115–128PubMed
13.
Tilson L et al. (2001) Generic drug utilisation on the general medical services scheme in 2001. Irish Med J 96:176–179
14.
Andersson F (1993) Methodological aspects of international drug price comparisons. Pharmacoeconomics 4:247–256PubMed
15.
Danzon PM (1999) Price comparisons for pharmaceuticals: a review of US and cross-national studies. Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania:– Washington
16.
Danzon PM, Furukawa MF (2003) Prices and availaibility of pharmaceuticals: evidence from nine countries. Health Affairs W3:521–536
17.
Martikainen J, Rajaniemi S (2002) Drug reimbursement systems in EU Member States, Iceland and Norway. Helsinki. Social Insurance Institution: Finland
18.
Bronner M (2004) Study sheds light on Swiss price levels. Pharma Pricing and Reimbursement 9:4–7
19.
Haga A, Sverre JM (2002) Pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceuticals in Norway. Eur J Health Econ 3:215–220CrossRef
20.
Anonymous (2003) Pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products in Denmark. Ministry of the Interior and Health: Denmark
21.
22.
23.
Anonymous (2004) Strong language on G10 pricing at EFPIA meeting. Scrip 2915:4
24.
Towse A (1998) The pros and cons of a single “Euro-price” for drugs. Pharmacoeconomics 13:271–276PubMed
Metadata
Title
The high cost of medicines in Ireland
Is it time to change the pricing mechanism?
Authors
Lesley Tilson
Bernadette McGowan
Kathleen Bennett
Michael Barry
Publication date
01-11-2004
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
The European Journal of Health Economics / Issue 4/2004
Print ISSN: 1618-7598
Electronic ISSN: 1618-7601
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-004-0245-2

Other articles of this Issue 4/2004

The European Journal of Health Economics 4/2004 Go to the issue

Original paper

A note on the impact of hours worked on mortality in OECD countries

Original Papers

Re-scaling social preference data: implications for modelling

Congress Papers

Data envelopment analysis based bonus payments

Editorial

Using diagnosis-related groups

Original papers

A method for cross-sector priority setting

Original paper

Approval times and the safety of new pharmaceuticals