Drug Prices in Thailand

[suzannegoh]

I wondering if my experience with this is typical.  Over the past few years I’ve been prescribed quite a few medicines and when I’ve compared prices of Thai pharmacies to prices in the US, in every case the Thai prices have been higher, sometimes by a lot.  The most egregious example was a chemo drug that cost about $500 per month in the US but was about 90K Baht per month at a private hospital here.  More commonly, the price for the generic version of the drug will cost about the same at an independent pharmacy as what the name brand version of the drug.  

And if this is the norm is Thailand,  is it the Pharmacies or the drug companies who are reaping the windfall? 

[Airalee]

I find the exact opposite to what you say and always compare my prescription prices here to Goodrx.com prices.

[suzannegoh]

4 hours ago, Airalee said:

I find the exact opposite to what you say and always compare my prescription prices here to Goodrx.com prices.

It seems like someone must have done an organized study of this at some point but I’ve never seen it. 

I’m not sure that the GoodRx prices represent but here are some of my data points, comparing the prices of drugs that I’ve purchased for cash in both Florida and in Thailand and for which I have receipts.  One thing that makes comparisons between the countries difficult is a bit is that in the US healthcare seems to be designed such that no two people ever pay the same amount for the same product or service, and insurance companies often get invoiced a much higher price than what the provider ultimately gets paid.  But these are what a man off the street seems to pay when it’s a straight cash deal.

Keppra:  500mg pills
  2800 Baht for 60 pills from an independent pharmacy in Thailand

  $9.94 for 60 pills at a Publix (Supermarket) pharmacy in Florida
 
Pantoprazole: 40mg pills
  700 Baht for 14 pills from an independent pharmacy in Thailand

  $58.54 for 180 pills at a Publix (Supermarket) pharmacy in Florida

Temozolomide:  180mg pills
  104,000 Baht for 10 pills from a private hospital in Thailand
  $348.46 for 10 pills from a private hospital in Florida

The US is supposedly more expensive than anywhere else, and I never hear farangs complaining about drug prices in Thailand, so I’m not sure how to explain these price differences.  As far as I can tell, the drugs in Florida were not being subsidized by anyone (i.e., I didn’t get them through a charity organization, and neither Medicare nor Medicaid were involved).
 

 

[1FinickyOne]

7 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

The US is supposedly more expensive than anywhere else,

That is not true for everything... I would assume that anything that had to be imported here is surely going to be more expensive...

 

For me: [and many years ago] Omeprazole - Prilosec - $20 for 2 week supply in USA

                                                                              Generic Omeprazole was $2 in a Thai pharmacy... 

[suzannegoh]

8 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

That is not true for everything... I would assume that anything that had to be imported here is surely going to be more expensive...

 

For me: [and many years ago] Omeprazole - Prilosec - $20 for 2 week supply in USA

                                                                              Generic Omeprazole was $2 in a Thai pharmacy... 

I don’t know if my experience is typical or not.   I expect not, because otherwise it would be a often cited downside of retiring in Thailand, and it wouldn't make sense that drug prices are a big political issue in the US.  Perhaps the prices that I paid in Florida were an anomaly, but as I said above, if those drugs were being subsidized by anyone I can't figure out who.

Maybe in Thailand they do less price gouging on more common medicines and or in cases where the expect the patient to be less desperate to get the medication.  But the price differences in the drugs that I mentioned above seem far too large to be explained by import taxes alone.


 

[Airalee]

52 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

It seems like someone must have done an organized study of this at some point but I’ve never seen it. 

I’m not sure that the GoodRx prices represent but here are some of my data points, comparing the prices of drugs that I’ve purchased for cash in both Florida and in Thailand and for which I have receipts.  One thing that makes comparisons between the countries difficult is a bit is that in the US healthcare seems to be designed such that no two people ever pay the same amount for the same product or service, and insurance companies often get invoiced a much higher price than what the provider ultimately gets paid.  But these are what a man off the street seems to pay when it’s a straight cash deal.

Keppra:  500mg pills
  2800 Baht for 60 pills from an independent pharmacy in Thailand

  $9.94 for 60 pills at a Publix (Supermarket) pharmacy in Florida
 
Pantoprazole: 40mg pills
  700 Baht for 14 pills from an independent pharmacy in Thailand

  $58.54 for 180 pills at a Publix (Supermarket) pharmacy in Florida

Temozolomide:  180mg pills
  104,000 Baht for 10 pills from a private hospital in Thailand
  $348.46 for 10 pills from a private hospital in Florida

The US is supposedly more expensive than anywhere else, and I never hear farangs complaining about drug prices in Thailand, so I’m not sure how to explain these price differences.  As far as I can tell, the drugs in Florida were not being subsidized by anyone (i.e., I didn’t get them through a charity organization, and neither Medicare nor Medicaid were involved).
 

 

 

It all depends on the medication and options.  I was an uninsurable cash pay patient in the US for the last 20 years and have rarely come across medications or anything else in the healthcare realm here in Thailand (doctors visits, surgery, etc etc) that even comes close to what I would have paid in the US.  
 

Someday, for psoriasis, I might need a biologic (hoping not).

 

Secukinumab 1 syringe (150ml) in the US is around $6000 (฿200,000) at the discounted price.  Here in Thailand (already checked the price) it is just over ฿10,000.  So….1/20th of the price in the US.

 

I think that it pays to shop around for alternative medications and also other hospitals as the price can vary substantially.  I have also read that some people order their medication from India.  I’m not sure how it is done (via a hospital perhaps?). Here is what Temozolomide appears to cost there….

 

 

[Sheryl]

Imported drugs will always cost more in Thailand than they do in the country from which they are imported (usually nto the US, but rather Europe). there is a tariff applied on top of the original cost. Basically can expect it to be a bit over the full retail price in Europe or Canada or Australia. 

 

It is by using locally made generic equivalents that drugs here become much less expensive. You could have, for example, saved a great deal by getting a local brand of Levetiracetam rather than Keppra. There is, however no locally made brand of Pantoprazole or Temozolomide. (There are, however, locally made and cheap brands of other PPIs)..

 

Private hospitals levy a very large surcharge onto all presecriptions and eanything gotten ata  hospital will cost much more than at a pharmacy. No choice with the Temozolomide, of course, as it is restricted and needs to be gotten from a hospital.