Optional medical prescription drugs are indeed more and more numerous”,
confirms Alain Delgutte, pharmacist. To this, there is a will of the laboratories which widen their ranges of products specifically dedicated to theself-medication, but also an impetus from the government, which sees the development of self-medication as a potential source of health savings. “At the European level, we are also witnessing an expansion of the regulatory framework for self-medication, with the provision of lower doses of certain listed molecules”, explains the pharmacist. “For a large number, underlines for his part Pr Jean-Paul Giroud, clinical pharmacologist, it is also about old remedies, disreimbursed by Health Insurance for medical service rendered insufficient. This is particularly the case for bronchial thinners and expectorants.
Generics contribute to the increase in reimbursements
One General medicine is a “copy” of a brand name drug whose patent has fallen into the public domain. It therefore contains the same active substance (INN) intended for the same pathology, with the same efficacy, the same contraindications and adverse effects, and is subject to the same controls by the ANMS (National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and health). In fact, the majority of drugs sold without a prescription therefore also have their generic equivalents, and the trend is growing as laboratories increasingly develop their ranges of generic self-medication. For the consumer, this is good news: prices are on average 30% lower.
