Many are the media, which, at the end of 2014, announced a 42% drop in the price of drugs containing paracetamol, including Doliprane.
Unfortunately, this theoretical reduction will only translate into a few cents for the patient. So, if you go to a pharmacy at the start of the year, your box of Doliprane will cost you € 1.94, compared to € 1.95 in 2014.
And on November 1, you will be charged € 1.90 for the latter, or only five cents less than the initial price.
Pharmacists dispensing fees to be taken into account
According to a ministerial decree of December 30, the price of paracetamol drugs will drop by 42% in 2015. However, this decision coincides with the entry into force of the dispensing fees of pharmacists, which will compensate for this sharp decrease. Thus, the remuneration of pharmacists will henceforth be calculated according to the number of drugs sold rather than the price of these drugs. Resulting from an agreement signed in May 2014, this measure provides for 0.82 euros in dispensing fees per box of normal packaging, and 2.21 euros for large packaging in 2015.
Thus, if the marketing price of Doliprane will drop well, and drop to € 1.12 at the beginning of January, it will be € 1.94 after adding the remuneration fees of pharmacists (€ 0.82). On November 1, the price drops to € 1.08, but will remain at € 1.90 per box for the patient, still in view of these fees.
This drop in the sale price of paracetamol comes after a standoff between the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) and the leading laboratories, Sanofi and BMS. These two companies supply most of the market, the first with its Doliprane, the second with Efferalgan and Dafalgan. In 2013, the ANSM opened hostilities by launching a procedure aimed at including the molecule on the list of generic medicines. In the end, it was decided to set up a single price which fell sharply.
This measure will allow Health Insurance to generate savings of 40 to 50 million euros in 2015, according to the vice-president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France. In number of boxes sold as in turnover, paracetamol is the most sold molecule in France. In 2012, for Doliprane only, the 190 million boxes delivered on medical prescription cost 276 million euros to Health Insurance. On prescription, Doliprane is currently reimbursed at 65% by social security.
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