title: [Drug prices in Switzerland: European comparison of "comfort" drugs].
abstract: We compared the average Swiss prices of so-called "comfort medicines" with the prices operating in several other European countries. These drugs, which are numerous in Switzerland, were defined as having no demonstrable efficacy or as being prescribed for physiopathological entities of uncertain scientific basis. The comparison shows that the average price of comfort medicines in Switzerland is not different from the German price (-17%, ns), but is higher than in Sweden (+35%, p < 0.05), France (+61%, p < 0.01) and Italy (+65%, p < 0.01). Furthermore, the average price of innovative new chemical entities is strongly correlated with that of the comfort medicines in all the countries considered and despite the vastly different therapeutic value of these two categories of drugs.
authors.affiliation: Division de pharmacologie clinique et Unité d'épidémiologie clinique, Hôpital cantonal universitaire, Genève.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vogt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morabia
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dayer
mesh_terms: D016527:Drug Costs; D005249:Fees and Charges; D005602:France; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D013548:Sweden; D013557:Switzerland
vernacular_title: Le prix des médicaments en Suisse: comparaison européenne des médicaments de "confort".