What "complete monthly cost" means

A pen price on its own tells you little. One provider charges a consultation fee with every order, another builds it into the medicine, a third adds a delivery charge at checkout. Two headline prices that look different can be the same amount once the fees land, and two that look the same can be far apart. So every figure The Dose Club publishes is a complete monthly cost: the medicine for one month at the listed dose, plus any consultation fee and any delivery fee the provider makes compulsory.

The definition

One month means a month's supply at that dose. For the injections that is four weekly doses.

Why the pen price alone is not used

The pen price is not the amount that leaves your account, and comparing pen prices alone would reward a provider that moves cost out of the medicine and into a fee. Adding the compulsory fees back in puts every provider on the same footing. A provider with a higher medicine price and no fees can come out below one with a lower medicine price and a consultation charge, and the table shows that.

Consultation fees

A private prescription needs a prescriber's assessment, and providers charge for it in different ways. Some charge a fee with the first order only, some with every order as a review, some fold it into the medicine price. Where a fee is unavoidable in a month, it is in the figure for that month. Where the provider charges nothing for the consultation, the figure is the medicine and delivery alone. The breakdown is shown when you hover over a price cell, together with the time of the last check.

Delivery fees

If the provider offers a standard delivery at no charge, nothing is added. If the only way to receive the order costs money, that charge is in the figure. Faster or timed delivery options are optional extras and are left out.

What is left out, and why

• Introductory prices, first month offers and codes. The table shows the standard price a returning customer pays, so a figure is not flattered by a month that will not repeat.
• Promotions that depend on a code. The Dose Club carries no codes of any kind, and the community filters block them.
• Providers that are not registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council. A price from an unregistered seller is not listed at any figure.

Why private prices differ

There is no fixed private price for a prescription only medicine in the UK. Each pharmacy sets its own price for the medicine and its own fees, which is why the same strength of the same medicine appears at different complete costs across the table. The table marks the lowest listed price for each dose and shows the lowest, average and highest in a summary row. It never ranks one medicine against another.

The tablets

The Wegovy tablets tab exists with no prices yet. When prices are published for a daily tablet, a month will mean a month's supply of the tablet at the listed strength, built the same way: medicine plus any compulsory consultation and delivery fee.

How the Price Index uses the figure

The Dose Club Price Index averages complete monthly costs across the tracked providers for each medicine and dose, once a month. Because every provider's figure is built the same way, the average compares like with like. A dose is published only when at least three providers listed it in the month.

Confirm before you order

A complete monthly cost is the figure a provider showed at the time of the last check. Prices change, fees change and checkout can add something a page did not. Confirm the total on the provider's own website before ordering. Every price cell shows when it was last checked, and a figure not confirmed in the last 24 hours shows as "checking" in place of a number.

Sources

• The Dose Club, How The Dose Club checks pharmacy prices, and How the Dose Club Price Index is calculated (articles on this site)
• General Pharmaceutical Council register of pharmacies: pharmacyregulation.org

This article is information, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber about your treatment.