40% of prescriptions bar generic drugs

Friday 25th July, 02:14 AM JST

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KyouNoNippon at 07:14 AM JST - 25th July

Drug company: Oh Mr Doctor. It seems you have dropped 100man yen.

Doctor: Oh. Thank you Drug Company. How careless of me.
medievaltimes at 08:12 AM JST - 25th July

$$$$$
KissMint at 09:49 AM JST - 25th July

It makes my blood boil that generic drugs are not available here...

Some pills cost 400-500 yen each and the generic versions in Canada, U.S., India, etc. are 1/4 the cost (or less).
Zen_Builder at 09:53 AM JST - 25th July

Are you asking for generic drugs?

When I was needing anti-depressants, sleepings-pills, etc I was offered generic/equivalent drugs by the drug dispenser NOT the doctor.

There have also been TV-Ads advertising Generic drugs for some time now.
KissMint at 11:59 AM JST - 25th July

I was told that, for that particular drug, there was no generic available in Japan. In lieu of that, I was offered an older version of a similar drug (can't remember if it was generic or not) that was quite a bit cheaper, but the side effects seemed greater and rather undesirable. The doctor was very kind and I'm sure she was being honest with me, given the problem and her sympathetic nature.