HSE Reacts to Reports That Irish People are Paying Twenty Times More than UK Residents for Medications

The HSE are establishing a unit to help drive down the cost of generic drugs, following reports that Irish people are paying up to 24 times more than UK residents for commonly-used drugs.

The programme will be launched next week as announced by Dr. Michael Barry of the National Centre of Pharamcoeconomics. The new medicines management programme could save the consumer up to €400 a year for each drug they are prescribed.

Over the weekend, The Sunday Business Post reported on the vast differences between the price of common medications in UK and Irish markets. Susan Mitchell of the paper spoke to Newstalk this morning and reiterated that the initial bill had been proposed in 2010 and was only now being implemented. Citing the anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor as an example, Mitchell discovered the HSE are paying €18 for the generic equivalent while the NHS are paying just €2.

Numerous surverys in Ireland have shown that the HSE are paying higher drug prices than most neighbouring countries. Despite the fact that the UK's prices are much lower, these are still considered quite high. 

Dr. Michael Barry further commented that he hoped the unit would provide savings for patients within the month.