Withdrawing Rivaroxaban

[Von19]

To save money the surgery has decided those taking Rivaroxaban will no longer be prescribed this drug and instead a generic drug from the same family I am far from happy about this Since mid November my PAF has been well controlled with just a few minor blips and I don’t want the cocktail of drugs I am on to be messed about with I know it is an anticoagulant and has no effect on AF Do I have to accept this or can I insist on Rivaroxaban Thanks

[BobD Volunteer]

I am not aware of any generic copies of Rivaroxaban as the patent is still active. They are more likely changing you to a different DOAC. Have they told,you what it is? I'm guessing Edoxaban?

[Von19 in reply to BobD]

You are right I looked up NICE guidelines and it clearly states that Rivaroxaban does not interact with other medications and is recommended for AF Why change something when it’s working fine Having a stroke would cost the NHS far more

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Von19]

Stroke is not an issue if you are on any of the DOACs or warfarin. Do you know which drug they want to put you onto?

[jeanjeannie50]

I would be so cross about this, different pills often have different fillers and some of them can affect myself and other people. I don't know if you can insist on having your normal Rivaroxaban, but I'd certainly give it a try. I always insist on having the Actavis brand of pills (made in good old Devon) which I know the contents of suit me. My sister in the U.S. tells me that some of theirs over there are now made in India. I guess it won't be long before we're doing the same! Just about everything made today is cheap and nasty, why have we come to this!

Jean

[10gingercats]

Do we not all have a personal capitation at our surgery?Unfortunately I do not know the details of what it is but last time my GP mentioned it to me a propos of an expensive drug I required he said i was well within the limit. It used to something like £1,000 p annum. You might want to check this with your local health authority or NICE? This conversation between me and GP took place c 5 years ago so it is possible the capitation has been abandoned. But in your place I would be investigating.

[jennydog in reply to 10gingercats]

You are probably right about this.

I have been prescribed cannabis oil spray for spasticity ( Horrid stuff ) We know it's expensive hence its unavailability in general. I saw a letter from the Regional Hospital to my GP about a contract which had to be agreed about splitting the cost. This stuff is called SATIVEX and has to be distributed from the hospital pharmacy, not locally. It can only be prescribed when 3 lots of alternative medication have failed.

[Ppiman]

If the rivaroxaban was prescribed by a hospital consultant, I believe a GP cannot amend the prescription.

Steve

[Von19 in reply to Ppiman]

Thanks for that information

[secondtry]

Hi, yes swapping drugs can be a problem, recently my Actavis brand of Flecainide seemed to be unavailable, so I had to source it elsewhere but the supply is now back to my GP surgery and my Notes show 'Actavis brand only', which they accept. Re Rivaroxaban my last annual cardiologist (he has an area responsibility for anti-coags) check-up, I was told Rivaroxaban had some bad Press reports in the US and now they are prescribing Edoxaban. It is early days with these DOACs and of course they are very convenient but if I start anti-coags next year I am currently thinking I will use warfarin.

[Thomas45]

I'm intrigued. Originally the new anticoagulants were called Novel Oral Anti Coagulants. Now the N has changed to a D, which I assume stands for Direct. The "Direct". must refer to its action, and not to the method of taking it.

With these New Anticoagulants it is for me a case of once bitten twice shy. I tried one and within hours I had pains throughout my body. After 12 days I stopped taking it. My GP offered to prescribe another NOAC, but I chose to go back to Warfarin whose only side effect is brittle finger nails.

Our bodies are not all the same. Mine seems prone to weedling out bad side effects of some common drugs.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Thomas45]

Chnaged to Direct from Novel because they were no longer new Thomas.

[Hidden]

There are no generics in this field yet as all DOACs are still under patent. Some are more expensive than others - maybe your CCG has a local supply deal to reduce cost, though this would have to include national pharmacy chains - not sure how that would work? Interested to hear what your prescription changes to.

Pat x

[MarkS]

Here's a link to the cost of anticoagulants:

cambridgeshireandpeterborou...

I understand that the cost of edoxaban is further reduced by quite a substantial rebate. So it is saving the NHS money to transfer any patients taking a DOAC to it.

[Von19 in reply to MarkS]

Thanks for the information Most useful I have friends registered at different surgery’s in a different parts of the country and they haven’t been asked to change

[stagecoach]

I was just browsing the anticoagulation web site and there is a patient leaflet that might help you

anticoagulationuk.org/admin...

[Von19 in reply to stagecoach]

Thanks so much for your help