By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter
Medicine users in Qatar have complained that they have come across several instances of pharmacies selling the same over-the-counter (OTC) drugs at different prices.
Retail prices of medicines in Qatar remain among the highest in the region despite the abolition of the drug pricing law by the Supreme Council of Health’s Pharmacy and Drug Control Department (PDCD) in April 2011, Gulf Times has learned. The move had aimed to bring down the retail prices of OTC medicines in local pharmacies across the country.
In fact, immediately after the new rule - that allows importers/distributors to fix retail prices - came into effect, the cost of most medicines went up by 20-40% and residents started complaining of sky-rocketing prices of drugs, prompting the authorities to intervene.
Consumers, however, are peeved at the lack of action to stop the practice of selling medicines by the same manufacturer at different rates in pharmacies across Qatar.
Initially, the PDCD was the sole authority to fix the prices of medicines in Qatar by issuing a rate list to wholesalers, who sell the stocks to retailers with prices printed on each pack of drugs. The retail outlets were then bound to keep the printed prices and not allowed to inflate prices on their own. Even the wholesalers could not increase prices without the PDCD’s authorisation.
There used to be seven drug importers and 18 licensed agents in the country. A couple of more licences were granted to new importers and agents after the deregulation law.
Under the initial pricing system by the government, it was widely held that medicines were too costly and a study by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) found out that medicines in Qatar were expensive compared to other markets in the region.
It was envisaged that the new free trade legislation would bring down the costs of medicines.
However, inquiries by Gulf Times at a number of local pharmacies yesterday revealed that some OTC drugs from the same manufacturer were being sold at various prices in different shops.
For instance, the retail price of the same brand of Loratadine syrup (100ml), which is used to cure upper respiratory infections, ranged between QR22 and QR25 at three different outlets. Also, a 60ml paracetamol syrup for children from the same maker cost anywhere from QR7 to QR12 in the local pharmacies.
A bottle of an OTC drug containing 96 tablets to cure indigestion and heartburn was also being sold at different prices - from QR9 to QR11 - in three of the medicine stores visited.
While some local pharmacies were selling a strip of 10 paracetamol tablets of the same brand for QR4 and QR5, others were providing the same for as high as QR11.
A similar brand of one strip of ten 200mg tablets of Ibuprofen, which is used to reduce fever, pain or inflammation caused by conditions such as headache, toothache, back pain, arthritis, menstrual cramps or minor injury, was being sold over the counter here at prices ranging from QR4.50 to QR7.
In yet another example of the pricing discrepancy, an anti-decongestant for children (75ml) was found selling for QR7 and QR19 at two drug stores.
An expatriate who recently visited a local pharmacy to buy an everyday sun-screen cream was shocked to learn that it cost a staggering QR104. For, according to him, another cream that produced similar results was available at a supermarket for only QR10.
What is particularly alarming is that most people who purchase OTC drugs are not immediately aware that they are being ripped off until they look for the same medicine at more than one pharmacy. “I never realised that the same medicine was being sold at different prices here until the store that I usually visited ran out of stock. It was a huge revelation when I went to another store and found the same medicine being available for much less,” an expatriate said.
During the price fixing era, most retailers used to claim that they were selling medicines with very low income margin and that their profits were not commensurate with the overhead costs and shop rents.
PDCD director Dr Aisha al-Ansari had earlier indicated that the prices of medicines in Qatar would fall with the new market deregulation law, adding that it would bring competition to the market and allow retailers to make higher profits.
The official also mentioned plans to establish four new pharmaceutical companies in the country by the end of the first quarter this year, claiming that the move would help reduce drug prices. The first and the only pharmaceutical factory in the country - QatarPharma - was launched in 2011.
