Review of studies reporting actual prices for medicines.

The review confirmed the paucity of studies on actual medicine prices, with only few studies evaluating differences between official and actually paid prices. The included studies are heterogeneous and differ in their design and focus. Non-availability of actual price data in several non-European countries results from lack of price regulation, which usually coincides with variation in actual prices for the same medicines between different dispensaries. In high-income, mostly European countries, transparency of actual prices is limited due to increased use of confidential medicine price arrangements.