Consumers want generics
May 16, 2013
A SIGNIFICANT majority of
consumers surveyed in a recent poll
of pharmacy customers said they
always chose the generic version of
a medication if it was available.
The Canstar Blue-commissioned
study summarised responses from
over 1900 Australians who had
made a pharmacy purchase over
the last six months.
“Almost three quarters of the
respondents to our survey said they
believed prescription medication
was too expensive,” said Canstar
Blue spokesperson Rebecca Logan.
“Relevant to our finding was
that 70% always chose the generic
version...generics often being
cheaper than the branded version
on offer,” she said.
“And further, 76% thought
they should not have to pay for
a doctor’s visit to have a script
renewed,” Logan added.
Other intriguing findings from the
survey were that almost a third of
respondents said they knew their
pharmacist by name, and more
than half took advice from their
pharmacist on what over-thecounter
medication they could take
before resorting to a doctor’s visit.
30% said they prefer to ‘selfmedicate’
than visit a doctor’s
surgery.
The survey also highlighted
differences between different
demographic groups, with 36% of
‘Baby Boomers’ confident about
asking for certain medications at
the pharmacy, contrasted with just
10% of ‘Generation Y’ consumers.
Baby Boomers were half as likely
as Gen X or Y respondents to selfmedicate
(20%, versus 41% and
42% respectively).
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