Generic Olmetec?

[moojar]

Hi All, I would appreciate a bit of information from you startlingly knowledgeable people. Hypochondriacs all of you, obviously!

I have searched the forum but found nothing.

I am on a daily 20mg 'Olmetec' for high blood pressure. "Each tablet contains Olmesartan Medoxomil 20 mg". Does anyone know of a generic version sold in Thailand?

My wife is there atm and I'll be joining her next week. She has already asked around several pharmacies and been told there is no generic available. The genuine pill is cheaper here in Australia, through our government-subsidised arrangement. So no biggy, I shall just bring enough with me for the six weeks trip. But in a few years I'll be retired and spending more than half of each year in Thailand, and my doctor can only give me six-months prescription at a time of the subsidised meds.

Cheers.

[lopburi3]

That is the only available brand of that ingreadiat according to MIMS/Thailand.

[oncearugge]

Only available as the original which is imported.

You are permitted bring a 30 day supply of prescribed medication into Thailand for personal use. It should be in its original container and be labeled by the dispenser with your name etc.

[moojar]

That is the only available brand of that ingreadiat according to MIMS/Thailand.

Ah, not what I wanted to hear. But thanks for that, appreciated.

I shall have to become familiar with MIMS/Thailand then figure out with my doctor what alternative drugs he could prescribe for me, ones that have generics available in Thailand.

[moojar]

Only available as the original which is imported.

You are permitted bring a 30 day supply of prescribed medication into Thailand for personal use. It should be in its original container and be labeled by the dispenser with your name etc.

Handy information, thanks. I was going to bring them in the foil, without the packet, to save space. But the original container it shall now be.

I'll need 39 days supply - what is the penalty if I'm caught with more than 30 days worth, do you know? If outrageous I'll purchase a small amount of the pills in Thailand.

[h90]

Only available as the original which is imported.

You are permitted bring a 30 day supply of prescribed medication into Thailand for personal use. It should be in its original container and be labeled by the dispenser with your name etc.

Handy information, thanks. I was going to bring them in the foil, without the packet, to save space. But the original container it shall now be.

I'll need 39 days supply - what is the penalty if I'm caught with more than 30 days worth, do you know? If outrageous I'll purchase a small amount of the pills in Thailand.

If it isn't a controlled substance no one care (as long as I know) if you take a 30 or 60 day amount.....Original package is a good idea.

[oncearugge]

Only available as the original which is imported.

You are permitted bring a 30 day supply of prescribed medication into Thailand for personal use. It should be in its original container and be labeled by the dispenser with your name etc.

Handy information, thanks. I was going to bring them in the foil, without the packet, to save space. But the original container it shall now be.

I'll need 39 days supply - what is the penalty if I'm caught with more than 30 days worth, do you know? If outrageous I'll purchase a small amount of the pills in Thailand.

One will bother counting a small quantity of medication which is for personal use.

[Sheryl]

Indeed no one will worry over 30 vs 30 pills of a non controlled substance.

For the longer term I suggest you ask your doctor if you could switch to losartan which is in the same chemical family and is available in Thailand in inexpensive locally made generic form. (Probably be cheaper in Oz than what you are currently on as well).

[moojar]

^^^^ Thanks Sheryl, I'll make a note of 'losartan' and follow up with my doctor.

You are right about the cost here in Oz - $14.50 for 30 x 20mg Olmetec Vs. $9.00 for 30 x 25mg generic losartan. What's that, around 38% less? Better in my pocket than someone else's.

If anyone is interested, $14.50 AUD is approximately B350 THB atm, so around 12 baht per tablet here for olmetec. My wife tells me they are B660 for 20 tablets in Thailand, which is almost three times the price per tablet.

I wonder what is a bigger factor in the price difference - protectionism, lack of competition, or just that there is not much call for blood pressure meds amongst Kon Thai?

[Sheryl]

Oh, plenty of need for BP medicine here. But that particular drug is not much used.

There is an import tax on pharmaceuticals here, this plus transport costs means imported brands will always cost more than in the Europe, Oz or Canada. Three fold seems high though, don't know if your wife comparison shopped. But regardless, locally made brands of losartan will be far less.

I would suggest in the future you tell your doctor you prefer brands available in generic if possible. There is some evidence that olmesaratan is more effective than losartan, but losartan works just fine for most people and given the cost difference IMO it usually makes more sense to start with the older, less costly formulations and switch to olmesartan only if they are not effective.