Save Money - Same Medicine Different Price

Doctors are revered by one and all. It is one of the most respectable profession on planet Earth. People even consider them next to god as they save our life. But what if the doctor you blindly trust is deceptively trying to make extra money from you. Hard to believe right!! It was harder for me too. I have always believed that medical profession is primarily forr the service to the people. But I guess like other profession, It has also turned into a money making one.  Two weeks ago, when I was down with typhoid, my family doctor advised me to take Cifran 500. It cost me Rs. 98.50 for a strip of 10 tablets. After a few days when the tablets were about to get finished, I asked my friend shweta to get me a strip of Cifran 500. But when she came to my place, she got me a strip of Zoxan(It's cost is only Rs. 49.75). And when she expalined me that why she brought Zoxan instead of Cifran 500, I was shocked.

My friend, Shweta, is a pharmacy student and she explained me that Cifran 500 is nothing but a brand name of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin and that cheaper brands of the same medicine are available and that too of the same quality and costing half the price. And when I further inquired about the heavy fluctuations in the prices of the same medicine, she answered, "It is just because of the brand". Big brands are ready to pay nice commission when a doctor prescribe their medicine to the patients. And this commission inflates the medicine prices.I have researched on medicines offered by different companies and observed the difference in their prices. The differences to say the least are very shocking. Here is a list of medicine where the same medicine has a huge variance in price.

• Medicine Name : Ciprofloxacin
  
  Brand :Cifran, Ranbaxy (500mg 10tabs) costs Rs.98.50
  
  Brand :Ciplox, Cipla (500mg 10tabs) costs Rs.84.20
  
  Brand :Zoxan, FDC (500mg 10tabs) costs Rs.49.75

• Medicine Name : Norfloxacin
  
  Brand : Norflox, Cipla (400mg 10tabs) costs Rs.48.49
  
  Brand : Norbid, Alembic (400mg 10tabs) costs Rs.10.67

• Medicine Name : Deoxycycline
  
  Brand : Doxy-1, USV (100mg 10tabs) costs Rs.48.58
  
  Brand : Mincycline, Shreya (100mg 10tabs) costs Rs.9.17

• Medicine Name : Risedronate
  
  Brand : Actonel, Sanofi Aventis (35mg 4tabs) costs Rs.2000
  
  Brand : Risofos, Cipla (35mg 4tabs) costs Rs.110

• Medicine Name : Zoledronic Acid
  
  Brand : Zometa, Novartis (4mg 1vial) costs Rs.13900
  
  Brand : Zoldria, Cipla (4mg 1vial) costs Rs.2800

These are just a few examples to state. There are many more. In the end I would just like to say that my intention is not to demean doctor's profession in anyway and all the opinions expressed are my personal. My intention is just to make consumers more aware. So make sure the next time the doctor writes the name of the medicine, rather than just the brand name and check with the medical store if you can find cheaper alternatives of the same quality.

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