Branded pharmaceuticals versus own brand (supermarket etc)

Carzy

Carzy

Carzy

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Was just in Sainsburys picking up some flu medicine because I am horribly ill, and I went to pick up some Sudafed and had a look on the back of the box and looked at the active ingredients. They contained 300mg of paracetamol and 5 mg of phenylephrine HCL. Then looked at Sainsburys own brand max strength cold and flu stuff, and the sachets contained 1000mg of paracetamol and 12.2mg of phenylephrine HCL....and they cost less (the normal strength stuff with the same amounts of drugs as the Sudafed cost about half the price).

Is it too obvious a question to ask why anyone would buy branded drugs, or is there actually something which makes some of them cost that much more than supermarket stuff, other than nice packaging and advertising? They have the same amount of drugs, and that's the only thing you need surely? Same goes for vitamins, and herbal extracts etc....so why would I pay three times the price for the same thing?
 
i've performed a double-blind test on name brand allergy medicine (Piriteze) and no-name stuff (straight Cetrizine Hydrochloride) and found the Piriteze to be quite a bit better...
 
I never buy anything painkiller wise other than the "own" brand ones. 24p for 16 Parrots eat them all and 33p for Ibuprofen. Its silly to pay £3-£4 for the same thing.
 
I suppose you're just paying for the peace of mind by buying the known brand items, whereas the own brand supermarket ones are in essence the exact same drugs at the end of the day.
 
When I as in a pharmacy unless the doctor specifically prescribed a band name drug, you just get given the pharmacy brand as it's exactly the same just cheaper.


An awful lot of people seam to get Ferrous Sulphate tablets, had their own box at front so we didn't have to search for them.
 
There might be some minor differences in drug delivery mechanisms, but certainly the active ingredient will be the same. If the branded name has a more advanced delivery method it might work a bit quicker.
 
I know that 15p paracetamol does nothing to me so I buy the stronger branded ones which aren't too expensive because there is a lot of competition in that area. My mum suffers from headaches so I think it's genetic as I can remember growing up and getting headaches and being given child medication that did nothing to me.
 
RobH said:
I know that 15p paracetamol does nothing to me so I buy the stronger branded ones which aren't too expensive because there is a lot of competition in that area. My mum suffers from headaches so I think it's genetic as I can remember growing up and getting headaches and being given child medication that did nothing to me.
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best ones are the paracetamol and codeine ones.

Also if you've only tried paracetamol try aspirin, although don't use it all the time.
 
RobH said:
I know that 15p paracetamol does nothing to me so I buy the stronger branded ones which aren't too expensive because there is a lot of competition in that area. My mum suffers from headaches so I think it's genetic as I can remember growing up and getting headaches and being given child medication that did nothing to me.
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Possible, it might be you do not have the receptor for paracetamol. Is it the same for Asprin and ibuprofen?
 
Can never understand people buying nurofen/panadol. Hayfever ones are the worst though, piriteze etc are about £4 for a weeks course, whereas the ownbrand supermarket jobbies are usually about a quid...
 
Mad old tory said:
Can never understand people buying nurofen/panadol. Hayfever ones are the worst though, piriteze etc are about £4 for a weeks course, whereas the ownbrand supermarket jobbies are usually about a quid...
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my no-name brand allergy stuff is £1.99 for 30 tablets :D

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not that i have to pay for them anyway, because i get them on prescription...
 
It was on the tv a while ago and they are exactly the same. The main reason that the brand name ones are more expensive is because they need the money to cover there r + d costs.
 
Pea0n said:
Depends on what it is. I can tell the difference for painkillers. Some own brand things aren't as strong as branded ones.

- Pea0n
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But how they can be different if the amounts of drugs in them are exactly the same? Obviously if you buy two kinds of painkiller and the branded one contains more paracetamol then it'll be more effective...
 
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