Prilosec and price

February 2, 2005

Prilosec OTC is now touting its price in their DTC ads.

Prilosec and price

So, is 68 cents a day a good deal? Let’s compare with the prescription PPIs.

For a 30-day supply (from drugstore.com):

Prilosec OTC $20 (68 cents x 30 tabs)

Nexium 20mg $120.99

Protonix 40mg $103.99

Prevacid 15mg $124.44

In most health plans, the co-pay for the prescription PPIs are third tier ($25 to $45 for a one month co-pay).

How about the H2-blockers?

For a 30-day supply (from CVS.com):

Zantac $17.99

Ranitidine (generic) $11.99

Pepcid AC $21.99

Famotidine (generic) $11.99

So, the bottom line – Prilosec OTC seems like a pretty good value if you need a PPI. $20 is still cheaper than many third tier co-pays. However, the H2-blockers will still always be cheaper and are quite effective for the initial treatment of GERD.



Related posts:

  1. Insurance companies ripping patients off for generic drugs?
  2. Price and perceived effectiveness
  3. Cutting health care costs
  4. Beware the dangers of universal health care
  5. De-facto price controls
  6. Do free sample medications really save patients money?
  7. Are generic medications as good as their brand name counterparts?


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{ 2 comments }

1 Dreaming again February 4, 2005 at 12:32 am

Yea, except …if you really need a PPI, the OTC strength isn’t strong enough … so you have to go to prescription strength.

So the OTC is still not a value and going with Zantac or one of the others you mentioned is still a better idea!

2 Anonymous November 19, 2005 at 11:25 am

Prilosec OTC is a PPI. But you sure sound confident!

Prilosec OTC is a PPI, it works well on one pill a day for most people.

I found Zantac didn’t work sell for me at all. Pepcid works for me, but it only works for about 8 hours give or take.

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