Antibiotic price query UPDATE

[siam]

Alfie was pretty unwell last weekend due to an infection which caused him to be sick, have severe diarrhoea and a temperature. The vet gave him antibiotic and antisickness injections and he got 7 days of antibiotic tablets and Canikur to follow up with. My son was billed £80 for 28 Metronidazole 100mg tablets and £93.98 for the consultation, injections and one Canikur 30mls (we already had a 60ml one). He queried the cost of the tablets so payment was withheld for them until it could be verified. When i phoned midweek they still couldn't tell me, but today we have been billed for an outstanding amount of £80 for the tablets.
We have looked online to try and establish a price but so far have only found prices in dollars at higher strengths. However, based on dollar prices and taking into account the strengths, we've worked out that we could get a bottle of 500 for the same price as what we were charged £80 for 28.
Has anybody else's dog been prescribed Metronidazole and remember how much they were charged? We were wondering if we've been charged for the full bottle of tablets rather then the 28 as this previously happened with an injection Alfie was given when we were billed with the total contents of the bottle rather than the few mls in the syringe.

[Mudmagnets]

Don't know if this will help at all (at least it is in £'s but not sure if it is the tablet required
https://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=Metronidazole

[siam]

Don't know if this will help at all (at least it is in £'s but not sure if it is the tablet required
https://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=Metronidazole

Yes it does, thanks. They're charging £3.35 for 7 less tablets but they're 4 times stronger!

[tenaille]

Hi,
Seems to be a cheap item,  7p per 200mg tablet, needs a vets prescription.

http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/metronidazole-tablet-200mg/prd-ks7

Beau was just prescribed this as one of 3 different antibiotics following his lipfold surgery this week (the swab they took showed 3 different bacteria, including very resistant pseudomonas). I didn't see the price as the whole bill is going direct to the insurance company but I will check at his follow up appointment on Monday.

[siam]

Thanks for that Tenaille. From your reply and the price from the site Mudmagnets linked me to it looks like there's still an error with it despite the fact that it was meant to have been checked out. I was all set to pay it and put a claim in with the insurance as the whole bill is just under £180 said we should double check.

[feelreid]

Hi, I was actually ar the vets yesterday and the lady in front of me was having this exact conversation with the receptionist, apparently the Internet companies can buy the drugs in such bulk amounts they get them much cheaper than individual vets, therefore vets must charge more? The lady wasn't very impressed unsurprisingly!!

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[Jaysmumagain]

Sorry but taking the buying in bulk out of the picture the tablets are still a bog standard cheap and long standing antibiotic - very effective but not  a swanky new wonder drug.  The only factor I can see is that the 100mg tabs are not usual strength for adults so may be a a veterinary product hence a higher price. But no way that cost. Tt's almost £3 per tablet

If you have pet insurance I would tell the vet you are concerned that the antibiotic  price will be queried by the insurer.  Also ask to speak directly with the vet.

Now for my tale - a few years ago a friends dog had thyroid tabs, she got 3 months at a time from the vets.
Then vets got swallowed up into a group practice. Next time it had doubled in price.  She questioned the price and was told the drug had increased in price.  Still not having it she asked to see the vet, on seeing the vet the same story was relayed - so my friend said she would ask her local pharmacist if he good tell her had the price to the NHS on thyroid tablets risen so dramatically and why.
She left the vets paying the previous price.

Julie

.

[tenaille]

Beaus Metronidazole tablets supplied by the vet are normal 200mg size, his dose is 3 per day, taken as 1 and 1/2 in the morning and evening. The tablets just break in half for 100mg.  According to the website you can buy the same item with either a doctor or vet prescription.

[its.sme]

It's amazing how different the prices can be between the Vet and a Pharmacy, the issue is when it's for a shortish period of time and you need them straight away, sometimes the Pharmacy needs to order it in and that can take a week

Do you think another vet could give you a quote for the same tablets, that way you have a comparison ?

[siam]

It's amazing how different the prices can be between the Vet and a Pharmacy, the issue is when it's for a shortish period of time and you need them straight away, sometimes the Pharmacy needs to order it in and that can take a week

Do you think another vet could give you a quote for the same tablets, that way you have a comparison ?

It was an emergency appointment and they had the tablets in stock. It's a pretty big vet practice up in the Highlands here - they have 2 branches in town and another one 60 miles away. I'm going to go in tomorrow and discuss it with them. I wanted an idea from others on COL to see if the price was roughly the same as what they were being charged by a vet. Alfie is 6 years old, has skin allergies and been prone to infections over the years but it's always been around £30 for 7 days of tablets. That of course was for a different antibiotic.

[Jaysmumagain]

I would really mention the fact that these are a very long standing antibiotic and very cheap, if you want to mention that they were issued as Metronidazole the generic tablet and not Flagyl the brand name to add to the fact that they are a cheap tablet.

www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/prescriptions/m?&orderby=0&page=2   

this company show full price of 200mg as 29 pence per tab, but sell them for 16 pence each.  One could expect a dispensing charge etc, but if the tabs at full price were £9 a dispensing charge would be £70.....am sure it is an error.

Julie

[siam]

Hopefully we can get it sorted out tomorrow. We have definitely been itemised for Metronidazole tablets and not Flagyl. I think we've been charged for the entire bottle!

[MIN]

vet uk advertise Metronidazole 400mg x 21 tablets for £3.35

[siam]

vet uk advertise Metronidazole 400mg x 21 tablets for £3.35

Mudmagnets linked me to that site and I saw that thanks - so the 100mg x 28 tablets that I'm being charged £80 for are the equivalent of 7 of those 400gm tablets on vet.co.uk which would be £1.11!

[Mudmagnets]

vet uk advertise Metronidazole 400mg x 21 tablets for £3.35

Mudmagnets linked me to that site and I saw that thanks - so the 100mg x 28 tablets that I'm being charged £80 for are the equivalent of 7 of those 400gm tablets on vet.co.uk which would be £1.11!

You could print the page off and take it into the vets tomorrow  see then what their excuses are!!