I think some chemists are money making machines more interested in pulling in the dollars rather than offering proper pharmaceutical advice.
Some of the time it is an unqualified shop assistant who runs you through the mandatory health warnings for which the chemist gets paid a premium to give you their professional advice,not from a shop assisant.
A Chemist I went to was charging me twice what I should be paying for my drugs because he took advantage of my problems with naively, counting and cognitive ability.
A lot of people don't know that a pharmacist is able to charge charge UP to the cut off point for the PBS co-payment, currently about $.40.00 for non concession holders.,irrespective of the price of the drug.
This means that if drug is a $16.00 cost the pharmacist is entitled to charge up to the co-payment amount of $40.00. For a private script the situation is worse because there is no restriction on what the chemist can charge.
I take an anti convulsing with my other drugs for schizoaffective disorder. That drug is prescribed off lable. I was being charged $100.00 for this drug and when I queried it with the chemist told me that this drug company put up the price of their drugs all the time, so its very expensive. I had been paying this amount for many months.
So I rang the drug company to find out their price guide. I then went to a cheap chemist who gave it to me for $50.00. I challenged the other chemist about this and he told me he would match the discount price. So why didn't he do that In the first place? I don't go there any more.
Chemists can be a powerful lobby group protecting the rivers of gold from both the government handouts and the public.
A lot are franchises in large pharmaceutical chains .
Sure there are tons of good pharmacists who are caring about their customers. But there are also those just driven by profit. Most people would be surprised at the add on charges that go on to medicines paid for by taxpayers.
I now just go to a big chemist chain which really doesnt even attempt to give me any medicinal advice, which suits me fine.
