This price increase is a headache!: Dafalgan is now twice as expensive for the same ingredient

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This price increase is a real headache! A 500-milligram Dafalgan package with 16 tablets was suddenly sold for 5.90 francs in the Amavita pharmacy. This is twice as much as before. Painkillers suddenly became much more expensive at other pharmacies, too. Blick reader reporters were surprised by this huge increase. Just like pharmacists, for example one of the Rotpunkt pharmacy: “In Switzerland, the manufacturer removed the old packages from the market and gave us the new product with a price increase,” he says there. The higher prices will apply throughout Switzerland.

The best-selling painkiller comes in new packaging and is now called Dafalgan Dolo. But in terms of content and impact, nothing has changed. An “old” Dafalgan pack from the cheapest providers previously cost 2.45 francs.

The manufacturer of the drug justifies the price increase with security of supply. “To avoid delivery bottlenecks for Dafalgan in Switzerland, we are bringing part of the production of paracetamol, the active ingredient in Dafalgan, to France by 2025,” French pharmaceutical giant Upsa writes in a message to customers. Blick . This means that Dafalgan products could be produced entirely in Europe in the future.

Pharmacists have to hold their heads

Relocating production costs money. The producer is forced to increase prices. “This way we ensure that Dafalgan always continues to reach you reliably,” Upsa continues. After all, it is the best-selling painkiller in Switzerland.

An Amavita pharmacist at the Zurich branch rolls his eyes when asked about the price increase: “Customers are asking why their medicines have suddenly almost doubled in price.”

Health expert Felix Schneuwly (63) defends pharmacies. “They have no choice,” he says. Since Dafalgan is a freely traded drug, the manufacturer is allowed to set the price.

Source :Blick