On buying medicines in pharmacies

As the bantay of my brother during his laparoscopic surgery, I was tasked to buy medicines and other stuff he needs. And as the usual procedure in a public hospital, you go to the hospital pharmacy to know the prices of the medicines, proceed to the cashier to pay, and go back to the pharmacy to claim your medicines. I was tasked to do this several times.

*from pcij.org

There were instances where the medicines were not available in the hospital pharmacy, so I had to go and buy medicine elsewhere. As usual, there was a street full of pharmacies just at the back of the hospital. I first checked the medicines in the nearest pharmacy, but then they didn't have the complete set, so I proceeded to the pharmacy beside it. The "pharmacists" of the 2nd store didn't look like pharmacists, not that I wanted to judge, but then here in the Philippines, you have to be smart enough to survive and not be cheated. The "pharmacists" looked more like household helpers and the pharmacy itself looked like a "sari-sari" store. Anyway I asked how much the medicines were, and they said that it totalled 1,748php. I then said thank you and went to another pharmacy beside the one I just asked, and in this pharmacy, the medicines totalled at 1,500+. 'Wow, that's almost a 200php difference!' I thought. Shocked with the price difference, I then asked another pharmacy and in this last one I bought the medicines, for only 1,262php!

In the mornings these pharmacies are even worse, they have these people who coerce you to buy medicine in this particular pharmacy, and they'll give you a "discount card" if you do. Of course I would say no as I think I could manage with just checking most of the drugstores for prices before buying the medicine I need. In this one particular instance this lady followed me and forced me to go to this particular drugstore. I said okay but I will only canvass for the prices first, and so she gave me this "discount card". And so I asked the "pharmacist" (this was the sari-sari like drugstore I mentioned earlier) how much the medicines were. She said that they were 490php, but then she said that since I had a "discount card" I can get the medicines for only 380php. Still not convinced, I asked another drugstore, and true enough, I still got it lower than the so-called discounted prices from the previous store; it was only 285php in the 2nd store. I then saw a popular drugstore who sells generic medicines at a cheaper drug, or the Generic Pharmacy. Relieved at last that there was a drugstore who I'm confident will not cheat me (as their prices are the same in all their branches). I asked for the price and I was able to buy the medicines for only 207php.

So next time you buy medicine, heed my advice: canvass first. There's nothing to lose anyway, and you'll get the most of your hard-earned money if you do.