Here, too, you will pay more: Anyone who has recently tried to buy an over-the-counter medicine abroad, such as painkillers, knows that they will often find shocking price differences. Thus, for example, Teva paracetamol 50 caplets will cost more than NIS 40. Also Dexmol, an over-the-counter medicine that contains 500 mg of acetaminophen will cost much more in Israel - we found it at a price of NIS 30 for a package of 50 capsules.
On the other hand, acetaminophen is sold throughout the Netherlands for 90 cents - 10 times cheaper than in Israel. It also contains the same dose of active ingredient, 500 mg of acetaminophen. In England, you can buy 500 mg of acetaminophen in Boots for £0.49 for 16 chapels, and in France for 2.1 euros. So while the public discourse surrounding the cost of living deals mainly with the prices of pasta and toothpaste, which are tens of percent higher in Israel, the disparities in over-the-counter drugs reach hundreds of percent.
We also tested non-prescription drugs imported to Israel, such as Strepsils.
In Israel you can buy it at an exorbitant price of NIS 37.5 for 36 lozenges - Strepsils antiseptic lozenges with honey and lemon flavor.
You will buy the exact same product in London for 5 pounds, which is 20.6 shekels, which means that in Israel it is almost twice as expensive.
It is important to note that the drugs sold through the health insurance funds, i.e. with a doctor's prescription, are significantly cheaper than non-prescription drugs.
However, many consumers who wish to buy a pain reliever or medicine against a sore throat will not necessarily go to the counter to get a prescription and will pay dearly at the private pharmacies.
The Ministries of Health and Finance supervise non-prescription medicines according to the Law on the Supervision of Prices of Goods and Services, according to which a maximum price is set when the preparation is registered, and if the owner of the registration is interested in raising the price, he must submit an orderly request to the price supervisor.
From the test we conducted, in many cases the drug marketers sell them according to the maximum allowed price.
The Ministry of Health replied to our inquiry that "the prices of non-prescription drugs in the private pharmacies in Israel are high compared to the rest of the world".
However, the Ministry of Health states that it is possible to purchase most of the drugs without a prescription at a significant discount through the health insurance funds, at prices that are significantly lower than those that exist in the world.
We were also told that "the Ministry of Health considers it very important to protect consumers in the field of non-prescription drugs and works on this issue, among other things, by removing barriers and other measures."
The Union of Chambers of Commerce responded: "Many non-prescription drugs are found in Israel in the health basket - a phenomenon that is not accepted in almost any other country. This allows the Israeli consumer to choose the method of purchasing the drug that suits him, and from which its price is also derived. The regulatory requirements in Israel are different from the requirements in other countries in the world.
"Any comparison that does not include all the variables that affect the price for the consumer is incorrect and not reflective."
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