There are a lot of colds going around at the moment, so I thought it was a good time to share why so many people overspend in their attempts to get better.
When you’re ill you often turn to the brand name medication you know to make yourself better – names like Nurofen, Lempsip and Berocca. But a few shelves lower down you’ll see the own-brand – or “generic” – versions of the same drugs for a lot less money. But are the more expensive ones actually better for you?
I’ve taken a look at how you can properly compare branded and non-branded pills and medicines, as well as a trick to work out if what you’re buying is actually the exact same product in different packaging.
Plus why you could be paying 67% too much for your tissues.
Read more:
> My article on why you’re paying too much for your medications
I don’t think you can beat Nurofen Cold and Flu and they’re 99p for 16 (8 doses of 2) in Home Bargains ❤️
When a drug is invented, the inventors get absolute rights to sell that drug for a limited number of years in order to recoup the costs of research and development. Once that period is up, anyone can make and sell (generic) copies.
There is no chemical difference, but of course the original makers still want to profit from the drug so they tend to dress it up as something MORE.
e.g. Nurofen recently got their knuckles rapped for marketing pills for different pains – headache/back-ache etc with premium prices, that were all identical to each other and their standard product – i.e. the ONLY difference was the writing on the box.
But of course, even this product only contained the same stuff as the 39p boxes of store-brand painkillers.
Totally agree, Andy. I do check the PL codes, but my husband is a brand snob! Only Lemsip ‘works’. I use hot water, honey and lemon juice with paracetamol.
Didn’t know that about the tissues, even though hubby used to make them!
Thanks for the good advice.