To avoid overpaying for many forms of over-the-counter medication, one Brit has a simple trick that can cut costs significantly if you take the time to inspect tablets' packaging.
How to Save on Medication
Next time you need medication such as cold and flu tablets or sinus and headache relief, you might want to consider your options carefully to ensure you aren't overpaying. That is the guidance from Claire, who regularly shares money-saving tips for Brits through her social media channels. Sharing footage from inside a Boots pharmacy, she highlighted that leading brand Sudafed's Congestion & Headache Relief capsules sell for £5.99. However, a cost-cutting trick is hidden within its packaging.
Claire advised: "If you look at the bottom of the box, it has a PL code [in this case PL 12063/0073], which is basically the medicine's ID [product licence]." She then selected a product from Boots' own range - Max Strength Cold & Flu Relief capsules, priced at £2.40 - less than half the cost of the Sudafed equivalent. Inspecting the box, Claire continued: "It has the exact same PL code, which means they are the exact same."
But she was not finished there, as she proceeded to reveal that even bigger savings can be found elsewhere. Claire added: "I found them in Savers for just £1.19 for 16 capsules, which is five times cheaper than Sudafed versions - and it is the exact same medicine, just in different packaging."
Concluding the video, Claire said: "Do not fall for fancy branding and make sure you always check the PL code and you can save yourself a lot of money."
Expert Advice
Money Saving Expert supports this guidance online, explaining how to identify which tablets are virtually identical. "Check the PL number on the packet," Martin Lewis' organisation advises. "It is a unique licence number given to a particular drug made by a particular manufacturer (such as PL 12063/0104, which is a cold and flu remedy). The medicine can be generic or branded, and it can even be marketed at different ailments, but if the PL numbers match, it is the same drug."
But what if the ingredients are identical, yet the PL number differs? Money Saving Expert explains: "Confusingly, medicines with the same formulation, from the same brand, can have different PL numbers. This is because companies sometimes license the same formulation under multiple product names. Even if there is not an identical medicine that is cheaper, do not sniffle at generic equivalents. It is a medicine's 'active' ingredient that matters - the rest is largely irrelevant (unless you have certain allergies or avoid gelatine), though liquid capsules work quicker and some taste different."
Public Reaction
Viewers were thankful for Claire's guidance and flooded the TikTok comments section with their reactions. One wrote: "A pharmacist I use always sells me the generic product, she has saved me a lot of money!" A second said: "This is good to know." And a third wrote: "Thank you, I will use this."
Should you have any queries or worries regarding medication, always consult a pharmacist or other relevant medical professional.
