Medicines and their cheap analogues: table. Cheap analogs of expensive medicines

The market for medicines (hereinafter - drugs) is currently oversaturated, and the choice of a suitable remedy is a rather difficult task given the recent reforms in the Russian pharmacy system. The more they are due to: frequent cases of manufacturing drugs, toxic poisonings, overdoses of drugs, and this is not a full range of reasons ... Meanwhile, a big and unconscious problem (in relation to the Russian Federation) is self-medication. Medicines and their cheap analogues are often used uncontrollably: doctors can only grow their hands and complain about the policy of commercial pharmacy chains. Where there is commerce, the benefits are primarily pursued, not human health.

Examples from pharmacies

A particular problem for many families is the high cost of foreign and original drugs and the search for cheaper analogs coming from pharmaceutical factories in Russia and India. For example, a popular table of cheap drug analogs (see below) offers a number of options for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia: "Penester" (Zentiva), "Proscar" (MSD Int.) - more expensive drugs, and cheaper - "Finasteride" ( OBL - Russia), "Finast" (Ranbaxy - India). The cost of more expensive drugs in the foreseeable future is about 600 rubles, cheaper - 300 rubles. Meanwhile, the officially declared composition is identical for all four drugs.

Why then do we doubt?

Cheaper drugs with the declared composition and effect, similar to a more expensive drug from the same pharmacological group, are usually called generics. You should pay attention to this concept: it leads to the conclusion that, for example, the yellow card is not a "Finalgona" generic, since they do not belong to the same pharmacological group, although they have a warming and distracting effect. Thus, not all drugs with a similar effect are cheap analogues of expensive drugs. The table chosen to save on one or another group of medicines should be checked and recommended by the Ministry of Health.

Can I replace drugs?

The issue of the problem of self-treatment was raised at the beginning of the article, but it affects not only the policy of pharmacy institutions, but also characterizes the situation with medical care in general. Compared with the Western system, where you can not even buy aspirin in a pharmacy without a prescription, our system remains far behind. And it's not the aspirin itself, but how the person gets it: aspirin, so, let's say, Tramadol, also included in the list of cheap analogs of medicines. There is an adequate alignment, in which a person gets to see a doctor and receives a prescription for the necessary drug. And there is an inadequate - when a person can not get to the doctor because of queues, difficulties with documenting the time off at work, because of which self-treatment has gone so far and crippled as many people as we do.

That is why many are forced to "prescribe" drugs to themselves, becoming a sort of home doctor. By the way, a very risky friend ... Not passed the necessary course of training and not knowing how dangerous even the beloved "No-shpa" (or her generic "Drotaverin") can turn out to be.

Medicines and their cheap analogs. Table on the refrigerator instead of a doctor

In most cases, self-replacement drugs favorably affects the purse of the client who went "against the system." Traditionally it is believed that the mark-up on drugs is due precisely to the system of their implementation, and the lion's share of this percentage belongs to the advertiser. Against this argument doctors and pharmacists have nothing to oppose. However, when it comes to new drugs that have recently appeared on the market, replacement may adversely affect the outcome of treatment (not to be confused with self-medication!). Here cheap analogs of expensive medicines will be irrelevant, a table with possible inexpensive options in this case can be offered only by a doctor.

For example, the antibiotic "Vancomycin" is highly effective against hospital strains of microorganisms that are very resistant to the effects of old drugs, and sooner or later they will learn to resist him. And in a situation where the patient urgently needs antimicrobial therapy, cheap analogs of drugs prescribed in place of the original antibiotic will only harm. Obsolete antibiotic not only does not help, but it will also hurt the patient. In response to the systematic introduction of obsolete drugs, the patient develops even more resistant strains, as well as the duration of the disease, and the level of exhaustion of the body will increase due to the temperature and complications caused by certain bacterial toxins.

Medicines and their cheap analogs. The table after all for doctors? ..

It would seem that health is a necessary thing, and you can not save on it. But many people can not get sick in our day. The drugs began to cost indecently expensive because of the long-suffering ruble exchange rate and inflation. And most people think that it's not a big sin to save a little. But here is how not to be mistaken? Of course, to understand why some drugs are cheap, while others are expensive.

1. Analogs with different active substance. The effect of these substances is identical (analgesic, antipyretic, hypotensive). However, a substance whose action on the organism causes this effect has a different chemical form in two different preparations. Such medications should not be confused with interchangeable ones, and in case of complex diseases it is better not to make a replacement yourself.
2. Preparations with the same active substance. This is exactly what drugs are and their cheap counterparts. Table with a list of such medicines is, for sure, every pensioner and an economical housewife. On the pharma market, often advertised and less well-known version of the same drug. Take, for example, the famous drug "No-shpa" and its analogue - "Drotaverin." The difference in price here is provided only by the ergonomics of the drug. Not everyone will want to pay 10 times the difference only because the No-shpa tablets are packed in a beautiful box with a dispenser - "the perfect option for a handbag." There are a lot of such options now, and we need to learn how to distinguish between empty and empty and not take what is not needed, but it is expensive.

Different manufacturers - different prices

Another factor affecting the price of the drug is its manufacturer. Here the effectiveness of analogues with the same composition and different manufacturers is a very controversial issue. This issue is raised because of the high cost of producing the active substance. Cheap analogs of medicines from one manufacturer and expensive from another - the question of the brand and the credibility of it. The fact is that many manufacturers intentionally reduce the dose of the active substance to increase the lot. Due to this they can afford dumping prices. Those who are primarily concerned with the health of their customers, and not with sales, can not take this course. Therefore, their product will always be more expensive.

Confusion with counterfeit

But if the picture were so clear, all the questions would be resolved in no time. The biggest damage to our health and wallets is caused by the shadow market, offering dubious counterfeit products under the guise of the original. Everything is counterfeited: drugs and their cheap counterparts. The table with VED - and that did not remain untouched.

The doctor himself

The difference in the mentality of citizens of different countries is an excuse for writing many books and articles that reflect their history. In Japan, when hiring, for example, wonder why you did not bow to the employer three times. And the Americans will be shocked by our seemingly ordinary thing: go to the pharmacy for paracetamol to bring down the temperature. They simply will not be able to imagine how a person without medical education can decide to take something, and how a pharmacy will release, for example, analogues of "Tanakan". A cheap medication table (list) in their country will be considered the property of doctors. We have this - the property of home-grown "doctors".

Thus, it can be concluded that very few Russians divide money into two piles: on tablets and on the last bread. However, many people want to "get cheaper and cheaper" without thinking about the consequences. Well, the pharmacy will always be the winner, but whether we win in the game with it is an open question ...