Painkiller Brands Re-Packaged

[Denisec4502]

Why are painkiller manufacturers re-packaging their products to show specific pain on the box of tablets to target, when the different packets all contain the exact same ingredients... i.e. Joint Pain / Back Pain / Period Pain........and hike the price up to about £4 per pack.....when supermarkets own brand is about 64p for the same thing. Makes me mad......

[ummmm]

They are in the business of making money. It's just a marketing tool that clearly works.

[Denisec4502]

So annoying ummmmm.......and the "fast working" tablets.......that take the same amount of time to work as any other tablet ! Not only do the well known Ibuprofen Manufacturers do it but Paracetamol brands are jumping on the bandwagon now....multi coloured packets on the shelves at double the price..don't like being ripped off !!!! Rant over.

[ummmm]

I always buy the cheap ones but they have to be coated.

[ummmm]

Actually, what is really annoying is when a shop doesn't stock the cheaper versions.

[mccfluff]

its a competitive market, they do what they need to do to stay ahead

read the ingredient list on a lemsip packet and compare it to own brand, its the same but own brand is usually a third of the price if not less

[Eve]

I guess as people in pain may be more vulnerable to the idea that if they buy some flashy looking expensive version that it might help more than plain simple packaged ones.

Some do have some slightly different ingredients in them though, things like lysine (?) or diclofenac in Volterol or stuff in migraine tablets. I'm sure I read something about one of them having a muscle relaxant in (something like solpadol?).

[Buenchico]

It's nothing new. Half a century ago you could buy generic aspirin tablets far cheaper than Aspro (which were just aspirin tablets in fancy packaging), Disprin (just soluble aspirin in fancy packaging) or Anadin (which were, and still are, just aspirin tablets with added caffeine in fancy packaging).

However indicating what type of pain the tablets are suitable for is perfectly sensible. Different (generic) painkillers work in different ways. See here:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Pain/Pages/Whichpainkiller.aspx

[Eve]

Also, never underestimate the placebo effect!

[boxtops]

They're not all exactly the same - some have different ingredients aimed either at different conditions or in varying proportions.

[mikey4444]

boxtops...complete drivel I'm afraid :::

http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/Medicinesinformation/SPCandPILs/?prodName=VANTAGE%20SLEEP%20AID%2050MG%20TABLETS&subsName=DIPHENHYDRAMINE%20HYDROCHLORIDE&pageID=SecondLevel

If it contains Aspirin, or Paracetamol, or anything else, and it has the same Product Licence ( PL) than it contains exactly the same ingredient, in exactly the same dosage.

EG, if you buying Paracetamol in a pack that says it is suitable for, say period pain. and it has the same PL as another, much cheaper version, that says suitable for headaches, with the same PL, you are wasting your money by buying the more expensive version. This scam has been exposed many times before, most memorably on Watchdog ::

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/features/pain-killers

If you believe differently, then you have conned by clever marketing I'm afraid !

[mikey4444]

Eve...just seen your post. If you can find 2 different medicines, with different cative ingredients but having the PL number, report this to the MHRA immediately :::

http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Aboutus/index.htm