So how do they get away with it? I wanted to know – so I put down the $20 deposit and found out.
Conversations, details, that’s coming. But the upshot:
$5.75 per pill from Pilot vs $1.67 per pill from Chemist’s Warehouse (pack of 12 generic 100mg sildenafil citrate tablets.)
These drugs are Schedule 4 (Prescription Only Medication – click here for more info.) Your assessment is an online quiz. At no point do you chat with, digitally or verbally. The takeaway: YOU CAN LIE. They can’t tell, they don’t care. They want money. It’s doctor shopping. Dangerously high blood pressure? Just lie.
Other medications? You can just lie. Under 18? Use your fathers drivers license number + Medicare. ID check = complete. Foolproof, utterly (sarcasm, guys.)
You pay $69.00 AUD for a prescription you do not get yourself, and are sent generic sildenafil citrate tablets (Viagra), 12x 100mg tablets. It costs $20.00 AUD at Chemist’s Warehouse for generics. Pilot tells me it’s because telehealth is not subsidised by the government. Your prescription (that they have) has 5 repeats. Each repeat costs the same $69.00, reasoning being you can consult with your doctor at any time (that last part is my guess.)
Basically, they’re milking you for money.
Imagine if they did this for other S4 drugs – diazepam, lorazepam, clonazepam – that class of drug (benzodiazepines) along with alcohol are the only drugs that can cause death from withdrawal.
Viagra itself, from Pfizer, originally cost around $65.00 AUD for a box of 4x 100mg tablets. Then they failed to hold onto the patent, allowing in generic versions. Viagra was moneymaker. And the guy who created it? Well, he wasn’t on the patent. No royalties. All he was trying to do was create a drug to treat heart disease.
Also, I find it amusing the amount of tracking they like to do of you across the internet (click to see below):
