Charged for prescription without being told of over-the-counter alternative

matt86_2

Hi,
I've just returned from Boots where I have paid £7.20 for a prescription of Chloramphenicol eye ointment. I started the treatment straightaway as I have been in agony over an eye infection for the past few days. However, upon returning to work someone mentioned that you can buy Chloramphenicol eye ointment over-the-counter at a better price. I checked the Boots website and indeed they do sell Golden Eye Anti-biotic Chloramphenicol eye ointment for £5.49. If I had known about the alternative, I would have bought the cheaper product and thrown the prescription in the bin. However, the pharmacist never once mentioned the product or any sort of alternative.

Is there anyway Boots would take back a prescribed drug after it has been used once? Is there a way to complain about the poor service offered from this store (Martin mentions on the "Cheap Prescriptions and Medications: Slash the Cost" page how Boots has a policy on letting the customer know if there is a cheaper alternative).

Anyway, thanks for letting me rant... I feel slightly better, but still ripped off.

Matt86

davetrousers

Forget about it.

You'll bear it in mind for the future though. Visit Pharmacy first for minor ailments as you don't need to wait 2 weeks for an appointment.

janninew

matt86 wrote: »

Hi,
I've just returned from Boots where I have paid £7.20 for a prescription of Chloramphenicol eye ointment. I started the treatment straightaway as I have been in agony over an eye infection for the past few days. However, upon returning to work someone mentioned that you can buy Chloramphenicol eye ointment over-the-counter at a better price. I checked the Boots website and indeed they do sell Golden Eye Anti-biotic Chloramphenicol eye ointment for £5.49. If I had known about the alternative, I would have bought the cheaper product and thrown the prescription in the bin. However, the pharmacist never once mentioned the product or any sort of alternative.

Is there anyway Boots would take back a prescribed drug after it has been used once? Is there a way to complain about the poor service offered from this store (Martin mentions on the "Cheap Prescriptions and Medications: Slash the Cost" page how Boots has a policy on letting the customer know if there is a cheaper alternative).

Anyway, thanks for letting me rant... I feel slightly better, but still ripped off.

Matt86

Hi,
Its annoying, but you probably can't do anything about it now. The pharmacy i use has told me in the past if its cheaper to buy the item off the shelf instead of using my prescription. I use quite a small chemist though, maybe the person who served you was new and didn't know the item could be purchased for a cheaper price. If your really cross and Boots does have a policy, could you not ask for the money to be refunded?

savemoney

Too late unfortunately but next time ask before giving subsciption

System

i find that the smaller pharmacies tend to tell you of cheaper options but boots never have.

Valli

Think it's the buyers responsibility to ASK...
sorry

MarkyMarkD

I might be wrong but I thought I had heard that they were forbidden by the NHS from doing this. The whole point of the prescription charge is that there is cross-subsidy from those who need cheap drugs, to those who need expensive ones. If they let all those needing cheap OTC drugs buy them OTC, the overall cost to the NHS would be reduced little but the loss of income would be great.

durham_girl

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

I might be wrong but I thought I had heard that they were forbidden by the NHS from doing this. The whole point of the prescription charge is that there is cross-subsidy from those who need cheap drugs, to those who need expensive ones. If they let all those needing cheap OTC drugs buy them OTC, the overall cost to the NHS would be reduced little but the loss of income would be great.

I used to work in a Pharmacy and I've never heard of that. We always offered the customer the cheaper alternative, it meant more profit for us. I usually have a good idea if I can get my prescriptions cheaper or not!

andyrules

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

I might be wrong but I thought I had heard that they were forbidden by the NHS from doing this. The whole point of the prescription charge is that there is cross-subsidy from those who need cheap drugs, to those who need expensive ones. If they let all those needing cheap OTC drugs buy them OTC, the overall cost to the NHS would be reduced little but the loss of income would be great.

Well you're not going mad because that was my first thought too. Can't find anything on it though. I think something was mooted about ensuring patients/nhs got the best deal.

In fact, my old prescription suddenly changed to a generic equal, however, just recently has reverted back to the branded one.

Pharmacies I guess are like any other shop, depends how knowledgeable/interested the pharmacist is. Mine let me pay for my exempted medication for years before I realised I shouldn't be paying!