How Much Does Viagra Cost In The Philippines

Prescription Drugs/Medications in the Philippines

Prescription drugs is really something of a misnomer when applied to the Philippines. With the exception of opioid pain medications and benzodiazepine family drugs such as Valium, a doctor’s prescription is not generally needed. Just write down the drug name, the dose and the quantity wanted on a slip of paper, take it to the counter of a pharmacy and it will be filled for you, assuming they have the drug in stock — and that it’s available in the Philippines. Some drugs available in the US are not available in the Philippines. Some drugs are available in the Philippines which are not sold in the US. If you do need pain medication, be prepared for a giant hassle. See /philippine-medical-care-pain-management/

How can you can find out which prescription drugs are available in the Philippines and the price of Philippine prescription drugs? The official Philippine Department of Health list is downloadable at http://doh.gov.ph/ndps/EssentialDrugsList.htm but beware that it’s a big download and the connection sometimes fails. The list gives drug names, doses and prices. You can also see the list at http://myphilippinelife.com/philippine-essential-drugs-list/. The Philippine equivalent of the U.S. PDR drug reference is the MIMS drug manual which is available at the big National Bookstore chain in the Philippines. An online version is available at http://www.mims.com/ The MIMS site now requires registration.

You can also check the Mercury Drug web site at http://www.mercurydrug.com/drugsearch/index.html Basically it gives you the same information at MIMS does but also lets you know whether the drug is available at Mercury, a major pharmacy chain in in the Philippines. It does NOT give prices. You have to e-mail Mercury to get prices. We have had trouble viewing the Mercury site.

Prescription drug costs are generally higher than in the U.S. They are said to be the second highest in Asia after Japan. See HERE for a list of drug prices for for a few drugs we use. It compares the price of generics in the Philippines and the U.S. In general, generics are about twice as expensive in the Philippines as they are n the U.S.

By default, the drugstores will sell you the expensive brand-name drug unless you insist on a generic. A recent effort to require that generic drugs be dispensed by default failed. Let me give you an example. If you ask for the blood pressure drug enalapril, you’ll be given genuine MSD “Renitec” enalapril, made by MSD in Australia, for about 40 pesos per tablet. This is an older drug. Its patents have long expired. If you get the generic United Labs version, you’ll pay about 23 pesos per tablet. I bought the MSD version for several months before I asked about generic versions. It turned out that there were two generics to choose from at vastly lower prices. Of course this is a Philippine-branded generic drug. Some people, including many Filipinos, distrust things made in the Philippines. However, it’s easy to tell if anti-hypertensive drug is working or not through blood pressure monitoring. For me, the generic United Labs brand seem to be working just as well as the MSD version costing about three times as much.

The manufacturer and origin of many generic drugs in the Philippines is not necessarily going to be reassuring. Usually it’s just about impossible to determine where the drug was manufactured. Few pharmaceuticals are actually produced in the Philippines. China and India are the largest producers of pharmaceuticals in Asia. Raw materials or finished product may be imported into the Philippines and processed and packed for sale. I have not seen generic drugs from the big international generic drug producers such as Teva or Mylan, which are supposedly subject to regulation and inspection by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps it’s more profitable for the Philippine drug distributors to buy from smaller Asian drug companies than it is to buy from the better recognized generic manufacturers.

At least one of the major pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, has a very worthwhile discount program for many of their prescription drugs. You may be able to get a Pfizer “Sulit” (value) card from your physician. It looks like a credit card. It entitles you to a significant discount on the drug for which it’s issued – about 25% to 50% or more. Cards are available for Lipitor, Viagra, Lyrica, Norvasc, Neurontin, Ponstan and dozens of other Pfizer drugs. Independent drug stores and smaller chains are trying to get the Pfizer Sulit program scuttled because the big chains (such as Mercury) can sell the Pfizer drugs for considerably less than can smaller stores and chains which do not participate in the Sulit program. It’s unlikely that every physician has a Pfizer Sulit card to give you for each and every drug. You may have to pester your physician to obtain the card from his Pfizer rep. I saw a list of the Pfizer drugs available at a Mercury Drug store but can’t find it online. If you know where to find a list of Sulit drugs, please let us know in the comment box below.

According to its web site, GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) offers a “ValueHealth” program. Covered drugs include: “essential antibiotics like co-trimoxazole and amoxicillin, cefaclor, erythromycin and cephalexin and other medication for common ailments such as Ambrolex (ambroxol), Calpol (paracetamol), the leading asthma brand of salbutamol, and rifampicin are made more affordable by as much as 34 percent under the ValueHealth program.” I’ll try to get further details.

Philippine senior citizens can get a senior citizen discount card. Foreigners do not qualify.

I usually buy my drugs at Mercury Drugs, which seems to be the biggest drugstore chain in the Philippines. This is for a couple of reasons. Mercury has a name to protect and presumably the expertise and motivation to avoid selling counterfeit drugs. Counterfeit drugs are a serious problem. Experts say as much as 30% of drugs sold in Asia are counterfeit. Prescription drugs can be affected by heat. Many drug stores are open air with temperatures exceeding those recommended for storing drugs. Most (but not all) Mercury Drugstores are more or less air conditioned. Always check to see the expiration date of the drugs you are buying. All the drugs I have bought from Mercury have been fresh, usually with more than a year until they expire. There is little price competition for drugs (or anything else) in the Philippines. I just don’t think it’s worth taking the risk to buy drugs from mom and pop drug stores. There are other chains which may be just as reliable as Mercury. That said, Mercury does not always stock some the the cheaper generics. For example, Mercury sells the generic drug Finasteride under the “Atepros” brand at P44 for 5 mg. The pharmacy at the Iloilo Supermarket sells the Indian-made “Finaid” brand for P24.75 for 5 mg. Which is better, which is safer? Who knows! Only a rich nation can afford to test thousands of drugs to be sure they are safe and effective. That’s why much of the world relies on research from the United States Food and Drug Administration. That’s why it’s a bit disconcerting that many of the generics sold in the Philippines are from Asian pharmaceutical firms which may not be subject to FDA inspection. The FDA does inspect some big Indian drug makers including Dr. Reddy and Ranbaxy Laboratories. Both sell products in the U.S. market.

The Philippine government recently adopted a “Cheap Drugs” bill which required price cuts on a few medications. One of the drugs affected by the law is Lipitor (atorvastatin). 80mg genuine Lipitor now costs P50.60 at Mercury Drug. I split the 80mg tablets and use a 40mg dose which costs me only about P25 per day.

Finally, you’ll be charged a 12% value added tax (VAT) on your prescription drugs. I feel this is really unfortunate. Filipinos have a hard enough time paying for medical care.

RP_drugs Link to PDF file of Philippine accredited pharmaceuticals.

We have had good luck so far with ordering prescription drugs from Canada, India and the UK and having them mailed to us in the Philippines. See our article HERE and HERE about our experiences.

I am not sure that Halcion (triazolam) is available in the Philippines. I too have sleeping problems, as did my father. I have been prescribed midazolam which is known as Versed in the US. In the US it’s only available as an injectable. It’s strong but I don’t like it. For me the best is zolpedium/Ambien, known here as Stilnox. I took it every night and was certain I could not sleep without it. Finally I ran out of it and just stopped taking it. I have generally ended up sleeping better without anything except maybe a shot of Tanduay rum!

You’ll probably be able to find Philippine docs and pharmacies to prescribe and sell you sleeping medications but your quality of life will be better if you can stop taking the stuff or just sticking with zolpedium.

Good luck and good sleep.

Posted by arnoldo a. gonzales on 10.02.09 3:51 am

Dear goiloilo; I am thinking of moving to the philippines. I was stationed there back in 1972 at clark ab. I would like for you to help me. I am retired disabled, i suffer from insomnia. I wonder how easy or hard it would be to find sleeping medication in the pharmacies. I use halcion .250 milligrams. I use up to 4 tablets a night. Could you help me on this. I heard that it is hard to get a prescription for controlled substances (medication). Thank you!

Viagra In The Philippines

Viagra, the much-hyped drug that’s supposed to remedy “erectile dysfunction” in men, has made its way to the Philippines, thanks to a recent stamp of approval by the Philippine Department of Health. What will be the con- troversial drug’s impact on manners and morals in such a predominantly Roman Catholic country? Ask Margie Holmes. A well-known Philippine sex therapist, Holmes holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a graduate-school lecturer at the University of the Philippines in Manila. She has written 13 sex-advice books–all of them best sellers. She speaks out (frankly) in a newspaper column and appears regularly on two television shows as a segment host. She talked with NEWSWEEK’s Marites D. Vitug in Manila. Excerpts: VITUG: Will Viagra change the sexual landscape in the Philippines? HOLMES: One thing they always say here is that Viagra needs stimulation–not only physical but emotional. This, I think, is to gain acceptance from the Catholic Church, because it implies a relationship. Yet stories have come out in newspapers about Viagra sex tours from Japan. Men who could not go on sex tours before can do so now. It crystallizes the role of the Philippines as a supplier of women, and the rich men can have what they want. You’re upset about Viagra? Viagra also perpetuates the wide discrepancy between rich and poor in this country. Who can afford $7 or $13 [per pill] for [an erection]? Believe me, you ask the women: it’s more important that their husbands are faithful to them and care for them. A woman can still have terrific orgasms with her husband or boyfriend or lover even if he doesn’t have an erection. In my clinical practice, there are women who like their husbands to remain either premature ejaculators or with erectile dysfunction because in a very sad, indirect way, it guarantees their husband’s fidelity. With the onset of Viagra–if it is really as good as they say–this might change the landscape for men who were unfaithful in their hearts. Is there anything positive about Viagra? The good thing is, doctors make erectile dysfunction something that people can talk about. It’s become legitimate. Second, sometimes men have erectile difficulties because it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. They had a lot to drink that night. Nothing’s physically wrong. It’s mental. So Viagra can help men bypass the emotional obsession. Will Viagra catch on in the Philippines? I would like to think that people are much more sensitive and humane than we think. For sensitive men and women, unless Viagra is taken within the context of the relationship, it’s nothing. It’s just like other things needed to get an erection–which are all good and need not be comical as long as it’s done with respect and love. If not, Viagra will be just like any ploy. Let’s face it. There are men in this country who treat women like merchandise. So I’m sure Viagra will thrive–for the macho men who can afford it, as well as for men who care for their women. It can thrive for both. Even with the Catholic Church opposing its use for unmarried men? First of all, there are men and women who do not blindly follow the Catholic Church in this country. The ones who do, believe me, if it’s convenient for them, they’ll forget what the Catholic Church says. Have people written to you about Viagra? Constantly. What are their most common questions? They ask about side effects. I tell them to be very careful. The fact that Viagra is a pill, something you take orally, is both its boon and its bane. You don’t need to inject it or insert it. It’s easy. But because you take it orally, it’s systemic. It goes through the entire blood system. That is why there [could be] problems. Many Filipinos write to you about their sexual problems. If you were to summarize, what are their most pressing problems? It’s different for men and women. Women consistently seem more concerned about relationships. It’s always infidelity on the part of their husbands or boyfriends. Very seldom would Filipino women come to me with a physiological problem concerning themselves, like “I don’t get an orgasm.” Men, in my experience, usually come to me for a performance problem. What about Bill Clinton and his ordeals? Some Americans place far too much importance on what one or several unfaithful incidents may do. The other thing is, there are gradations of morality. A man who has been unfaithful to his wife is not necessarily more immoral than a man who has been faithful to his wife. I would think that a man who promulgated laws against the working class is far more immoral than a man who may have done something with Monica Lewinsky, who, by the way, wanted it. Back to Viagra. Will it be a fad here? Definitely. Because of our economic realities, not everyone can buy this product. You pop a pill, you get an erection. How satisfactory can that be? I hope, though, that it hits men at a deeper level, that they really realize that there are other things men can do to please their women and to be sexually alive. After all, the most important sex organ is the one between your ears, not the one between your legs.

Viagra, the much-hyped drug that’s supposed to remedy “erectile dysfunction” in men, has made its way to the Philippines, thanks to a recent stamp of approval by the Philippine Department of Health. What will be the con- troversial drug’s impact on manners and morals in such a predominantly Roman Catholic country? Ask Margie Holmes. A well-known Philippine sex therapist, Holmes holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a graduate-school lecturer at the University of the Philippines in Manila. She has written 13 sex-advice books–all of them best sellers. She speaks out (frankly) in a newspaper column and appears regularly on two television shows as a segment host. She talked with NEWSWEEK’s Marites D. Vitug in Manila. Excerpts:

VITUG: Will Viagra change the sexual landscape in the Philippines?
HOLMES: One thing they always say here is that Viagra needs stimulation–not only physical but emotional. This, I think, is to gain acceptance from the Catholic Church, because it implies a relationship. Yet stories have come out in newspapers about Viagra sex tours from Japan. Men who could not go on sex tours before can do so now. It crystallizes the role of the Philippines as a supplier of women, and the rich men can have what they want.

You’re upset about Viagra?
Viagra also perpetuates the wide discrepancy between rich and poor in this country. Who can afford $7 or $13 [per pill] for [an erection]? Believe me, you ask the women: it’s more important that their husbands are faithful to them and care for them. A woman can still have terrific orgasms with her husband or boyfriend or lover even if he doesn’t have an erection. In my clinical practice, there are women who like their husbands to remain either premature ejaculators or with erectile dysfunction because in a very sad, indirect way, it guarantees their husband’s fidelity. With the onset of Viagra–if it is really as good as they say–this might change the landscape for men who were unfaithful in their hearts.

Is there anything positive about Viagra?
The good thing is, doctors make erectile dysfunction something that people can talk about. It’s become legitimate. Second, sometimes men have erectile difficulties because it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. They had a lot to drink that night. Nothing’s physically wrong. It’s mental. So Viagra can help men bypass the emotional obsession.

Will Viagra catch on in the Philippines?
I would like to think that people are much more sensitive and humane than we think. For sensitive men and women, unless Viagra is taken within the context of the relationship, it’s nothing. It’s just like other things needed to get an erection–which are all good and need not be comical as long as it’s done with respect and love. If not, Viagra will be just like any ploy. Let’s face it. There are men in this country who treat women like merchandise. So I’m sure Viagra will thrive–for the macho men who can afford it, as well as for men who care for their women. It can thrive for both.

Even with the Catholic Church opposing its use for unmarried men?
First of all, there are men and women who do not blindly follow the Catholic Church in this country. The ones who do, believe me, if it’s convenient for them, they’ll forget what the Catholic Church says.

Have people written to you about Viagra?
Constantly.

What are their most common questions?
They ask about side effects. I tell them to be very careful. The fact that Viagra is a pill, something you take orally, is both its boon and its bane. You don’t need to inject it or insert it. It’s easy. But because you take it orally, it’s systemic. It goes through the entire blood system. That is why there [could be] problems.

Many Filipinos write to you about their sexual problems. If you were to summarize, what are their most pressing problems?
It’s different for men and women. Women consistently seem more concerned about relationships. It’s always infidelity on the part of their husbands or boyfriends. Very seldom would Filipino women come to me with a physiological problem concerning themselves, like “I don’t get an orgasm.” Men, in my experience, usually come to me for a performance problem.

What about Bill Clinton and his ordeals?
Some Americans place far too much importance on what one or several unfaithful incidents may do. The other thing is, there are gradations of morality. A man who has been unfaithful to his wife is not necessarily more immoral than a man who has been faithful to his wife. I would think that a man who promulgated laws against the working class is far more immoral than a man who may have done something with Monica Lewinsky, who, by the way, wanted it.

Back to Viagra. Will it be a fad here?
Definitely. Because of our economic realities, not everyone can buy this product. You pop a pill, you get an erection. How satisfactory can that be? I hope, though, that it hits men at a deeper level, that they really realize that there are other things men can do to please their women and to be sexually alive. After all, the most important sex organ is the one between your ears, not the one between your legs.

Common use

The main component of Viagra is Sildenafil Citrate.
Sildenafil Citrate affects the response to sexual stimulation. It acts by enhancing smooth muscle relaxation using nitric oxide, a chemical that is normally released in response to sexual stimulation. This smooth muscle relaxation allows increased blood flow into certain areas of the penis, which leads to an erection.
Sildenafil Citrate is applied for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (impotence) in men and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Sildenafil Citrate may also be used for other purposes not listed above.

Dosage and direction

Usually the recommended dose is 50 mg. It is taken approximately 0,5-1 hour before sexual activity. Do not take Viagra more then once a day.
A high fat meal may delay the time of the effect of this drug.
Try not to eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice while you are being treated with Sildenafil Citrate .

Precautions

Before you start taking Sildenafil Citrate. tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are allergic to it; or if you have any other allergies.
Aged people may be more sensitive to the side effects of the drug.

Viagra is contraindicated in patients who take another medicine to treat impotence or using a nitrate drug for chest pain or heart problems.
This medicine should not be taken by women and children as well as in patients with a known hypersensitivity to any component of the tablet.

Possible side effect

The most common side effects are headache, flushing, heartburn, stomach upset, nasal stuffiness, lightheadedness, dizziness or diarrhea.
A serious allergic reaction to this drug is very rare, but seek immediate medical help if it occurs.
Many people who use this medicine do not have serious side effects.
In case you notice any side effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.

Drug interaction

This drug should not be used with nitrates and recreational drugs called “poppers” containing amyl or butyl nitrite; alpha-blocker medications; other medications for impotence; high blood pressure medicines, etc.
Consult your doctor or pharmacist for more details.

Missed dose

Viagra is used as needed, so you are unlikely to be on a dosing schedule.

Overdose

If you think you have used too much of this medicine seek emergency medical attention right away. The symptoms of overdose usually include chest pain, nausea, irregular heartbeat, and feeling light-headed or fainting.

Storage

Store your medicines at room temperature between 68-77 degrees F (20-25 degrees C) away from light and moisture. Do not store the drugs in the bathroom. Keep all drugs away from reach of children and pets.

Disclaimer

We provide only general information about medications which does not cover all directions, possible drug integrations, or precautions. Information at the site cannot be used for self-treatment and self-diagnosis. Any specific instructions for a particular patient should be agreed with your health care adviser or doctor in charge of the case. We disclaim reliability of this information and mistakes it could contain. We are not responsible for any direct, indirect, special or other indirect damage as a result of any use of the information on this site and also for consequences of self-treatment.

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Prescription Drugs/Medications in the Philippines

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Viagra In The Philippines

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