Drug Costs

UK Medicine and Drug Prices

Compare Drug Brands

There are a huge range of common medicine, drugs and tablets available in all manner of forms. A mystery shopper looked at the prices you would pay for the leading brand style medicine or drug to a supermarkets own brand of medicine or drug . Each product is compared on a like for like basis, with identical main active ingrediants.

Huge Price Variation in Painkillers

There was a huge variation in the price of painkillers, with the leading brands of standard drugs costings between 5 and 8 times that of the supermarket own brands! Buying own brand drugs and medicine could save you a small fortune and they will still be as effective.

For other types of drugs and medicine this price difference was reduced to 1.1 - 3 times cheaper for the own brands, not as large a difference as for painkillers, but there are still significant savings to be made by buying own brand drugs.

Note that although these medicines and drugs contain the same active ingrediants the leading brands do often have some advantages. They are usually easier to swallow, taste nicer, or come in prettier colours...

Drug Prices
 Medicine Active Drug Ingredient Leading Brand Drugs Own Brand Drugs  How many times cheaper?!?
 Aspirin Painkiller Tablets 300 mg Aspirin  8.1p 1p8x 
 Soluble Aspirin Painkiller Tablets 300 mg Aspirin  9.3p 1.2p 8x
 Paracetamol Painkiller Tablets  500 mg Paracetamol  8.3p 1p 8x
 Ibuprofen Painkiller Tablets  200 mg Ibuprofen 12.4p 2.3p 5x
 Strong Painkiller Tablets Aspirin + Paracetamol 8.6p 3p 3x
 Cold and Flu Tablets Paracetamol + decongestant + caffeine 21.6p 8.3p 2.5x
 Soluble Cold and Flu Tablets Paracetamol + decongestant + caffeine 27.9p 13.5p 2x
 Hayfever Tablets 10 mg Cetrizine Hydrochloride 39.9p 14p 3x
 Non drowsy Hayfever tablets 10 mg Loratadine 44.59 14p 3x
 Muscle Rub Gel Ibuprofen £3.99 £2.24 1.6x
 Medicated Tthroat lozenges Hexyresorcinol  6.5p 6p 1.1x
 Diarrhea Tablets  Loperamide Hydrochloride  4.5p 33p 1.4x
 Diarrhea Tablets  500mg Calcium Carbonate 3.8p1.58p  2x

 

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