Survey finds substantial price variations in OTC and prescription drugs in Hong Kong retail market
Drugs should heal and not become a source of unbearable burden to those who need medication.
A Consumer Council survey on drug prices has revealed extensive price variations among the pharmacies and drug stores in Hong Kong.
That means depending on where you do your purchase, the same drugs that can be bought over-the-counter (OTC)without a doctor's prescription could cost far more - by a Coefficient of Variation(a statistical measure to compare variability) of some 20%. Prescription drugs fared even worse in the survey - by a CV of nearly 30%.
So if you need medication on a prolonged basis, a month or a year, such price variations could amount to a considerable sum - and a veritable burden.
Take two survey samples of commonly prescribed cardiovascular drugs for instance. In the case of one with the highest price variation, the monthly (30 days with 3 tablets daily) expenditure could range from$50 to $135 - a difference of $85, and the yearly (365 days) expenditure $608 to$1,643 - a difference of $1,035.
For the other of a higher priced drug, the monthly (30 days with 2 tablets daily) expenditure could vary from $120to $276 - a difference of $156, and the annual expenditure $1,460 to $3,354 - a difference of $1,894.
Shopping around for price comparison would therefore seem sensible given the wide price variations of drugs in Hong Kong. But that could be very demanding especially if you are not in your best of health.
There are, after all, an estimated 280 pharmacies and 2,500 drug stores here.
The Council's survey covered a sample size of 62 comprising 23 OTC drugs and 40 commonly prescribed drugs at various types of retail outlets - pharmacies, drug stores and chain stores.
According to the survey, chain stores and pharmacies are consistently the most expensive of all retail outlets.
In the case of OTC drugs, the retail prices at chain stores were, on average, 23% and 25% higher than those sold in pharmacies and drug stores respectively.
For prescription drugs, the price variations were even more noticeable. Of the 40 prescription drugs covered in the survey, 31 were distinctly more expensive in the chain pharmacies while the remaining 9 were not among the highest priced.
The survey could find no evidence of regional price difference. It found that the pricing strategy of some retail outlets is to price some drugs at low levels while others at considerably higher levels. Consumers should therefore be on the watch out for such pricing tactic.
Consumers who need prescription drugs regularly for a prolonged period of time will do well to shop around to compare prices. They are advised to buy only from pharmacies under the supervision of a registered pharmacist whose advice on drug dosage, strength, adverse effect and food interaction is just as important as price comparison.
In Hong Kong, drugs are registered under the Pharmacy and Poison Ordinance. Once a drug is approved, a registration number consisting of "HK-" followed by a 5-digit number, i.e.HK-XXXXX is issued. Purchasers should look out for such registration number on the label of the package.
Consumers can consult results of the price survey in the latest (267th ) issue of the Council's monthly magazine CHOICE for reference.
Council warns suffocation hazard in mini-cup jelly
Mini-cup jelly is fun to eat and a favourite with the young.
But there lurks a potential danger, warns the Consumer Council.
It could suffocate you. At least one case of near fatality was reported in Hong Kong in October last year.
It involved an one-year-old girl who was nearly suffocated by a konjac mini-cup jelly.
Similar accidents have been reported in Taiwan where two young children - a girl aged 19 months and a boy of 8months old - died of suffocation last year.
Mini-cup jelly made with konjac flour (extracted from the stem tuber of a plant belonging to the family of yam) is increasingly popular in these areas in the region.
The traditional Chinese medicine literature recorded the use of konjac for clearing phlegm and bruises, healing malaria and skin diseases, and bone setting. As such, konjac jelly is promoted as a health food.
Although it is commonly considered that konjac or fibre-like substances in diet can reduce blood cholesterol and body weight, the Hong Kong Medical Association points out that the effects are only modest in ordinary diet amount. No adverse toxicological effects are known if used as an food additive only.
But the danger lies with the way the mini-cup jelly is packaged and consumed - the jelly is often sucked out directly into the mouth.
It is specially more dangerous for mini-cup konjac jelly. According to the Japanese Consumer Information Centre, konjac jelly is harder than ordinary jelly by threefold and, after refrigeration, by five to tenfold. It may be difficult for children and the elderly to chew it into small pieces or dissolve it in the mouth.
As the jelly is so slipperyand soft - and if you are not careful or too young or too old - it may rush its way into the throat causing suffocation.
To assess the hazard and what safety precaution is in order, the Consumer Council has initiated a study with a sample size of 42 different models of konjac jelly (22), jelly (16) and pudding (4).
As there is no law in Hong Kong governing the size of food products, reference was made to the Toys and Children's Products Safety Ordinance. Among the 42 samples, all except three were found to be classified as small objects under this Ordinance.
An examination of the labels on the package found only 15 of them (five in both Chinese and English) to carry a warning message and the rest are without any safety labelling.
The Consumer Council suggests that in view of the suffocation hazard such food products pose, safety labelling is called for to highlight the following :
- The product should not be directly sucked from its pack.
- It should be squeezed slightly so that it pops up before putting it into the mouth.
- For small children and the elderly, the product should be cut into small pieces before eating. They should not be left alone when eating the product.
It is also recommended that the package should include a spoon for usage of the consumer.
Substandard bunk beds pose serious hazards to safety of young children
Don't wait until tragedy strikes. Check the bunk beds at home to ensure that they are designed and constructed up to standard specifications, cautions the Consumer Council.
A bunk bed that is substandard could be a potential death trap or the cause of serious bodily injuries.
Nine children, aged 9 months to 8 years, fell victim of bunk bed-related accidents in the past 10 years, in which three died and six were injured. These statistics represent probably only a small proportion of similar mishaps.
Bunk beds are commonly found in Hong Kong's space-scarce homes. The safety of bunk beds is regulated under the Toys and Children’s Products Safety Ordinance.
Up to the end of 1998, the Customs and Excise Department has successfully prosecuted 15 importers, wholesalers and retailers for supplying or selling bunk beds which failed to comply with the prescribed safety standard.
They were fined a total of$206,700 and $26,712 worth of goods forfeited. The enforcement action found at least 8bunk beds (5 metal and 3 wooden) to fail compliance with the requirements of British European Standard BS EN747:1:1993, posing fall off or entrapment hazards:
Top bed safety barriers
- Top bed was not equipped with four safety barriers.
- The height of safety barriers was not sufficient (less than 260 mm).
- The exit to ladder was too wide (greater than 400 mm).
- The clear space between two adjacent retaining elements was too narrow or too wide (smaller than 60 mm or greater than 75 mm).
- The maximum thickness of the mattress should be marked with a line on the bed, showing the maximum level of the upper surface of the mattress.
Ladder
The distance between two adjacent steps was too wide (more than 300 mm).
Other Gaps
Gaps with potential entrapment hazard were found (bigger than 75 mm and smaller than 200 mm).
In assembling a bunk bed, consumers are advised to carefully check that all parts of the bed are properly connected to prevent accidental collapse and in particular the upper bed should be connected firmly to the lower bed to ensure that it does not become disconnected.
For information of standard specifications for bunk beds, consumers are strongly urged to consult this January (267th )issue of CHOICE. Don't sleep on it. Act now.
First Council's test report on GSM, PCS and Dual Band Mobile Phones
Consumers now have a wide choice of mobile phones - GSM, PCS and Dual Band handsets.
To assist consumers in their choice, the Consumer Council published in this January issue of CHOICE its first test report covering these three major systems of mobile handsets.
The test compared their voice intelligibility, sensitivity, battery performance, convenience and durability. Highlights of the results reveal that:
- Different samples performed quite differently, especially on battery performance.
- The shortest and longest standby times are 31 and 229 hours respectively, a difference of more than 7 times.
- The shortest and longest usable times (simulating 57 minutes standby and 3 minutes talk in each hour) are 18 and 58 hours respectively, a difference of more than 3 times.
- Handset with Li-ion battery may not, as most people think, perform better than handset with NiMH battery.