Ezetimibe

[K9ndo]

My local pharmacy is unable to supply my wife with Ezetimibe quoting a national shortage, and have moved her onto Rosuvastatin. Is this really a national shortage, anyone else struggling to get Ezetimibe?? This is a very commonly used drug hence I cannot understand why it should be short supply

[10gingercats]

We have faced this several times with Boots chemist and have managed to get ourequired meds through another chemist. Some chemists only get their suppies from one warehouse but if you can locate another local chemist who has the med. your Gp should be able to facilitate it for you electronically via 'the spine'.......this is how we managed to get two different meds not avail. via Boots .

[Blearyeyed]

I would suggest that you ask them to check further afield or you take back your prescription and ring round other pharmacies to find one that can supply it , or possibly use a home delivery service.Ezetimibe and Rosuvastatin are not the same things. Ezetimibe is not a statin and eliminates cholesterol in a different way to statins.

It's usually given to people whom can't use statins, or alongside a statin for some people with cholesterol health conditions, or to people whom need to have cholesterol removed from the body in a different way than a statin.

Your Chemist should not just substitute a Statin for Ezetimibe without checking why your wife is on it and checking if the GP wants to use a different alternative, a national shortage is not an excuse for that.

The Chemist should know that these drugs should not automatically be substituted one for another and they have shown poor practice by suggesting it , or bad knowledge of the medications if they think it's fine to do so without further checks.

Personally, I'd be putting in a complaint, not just within the shop but the local board overseeing your pharmacy and I'd probably try to find an alternative pharmacy in future.

Take care , Bee

[Lowerfield_no_more in reply to Blearyeyed]

+1 on all of that 👍

[K9ndo in reply to Blearyeyed]

Thanks for you reply, the Ezetimibe supplimented a reduced Avorstatin dose due to her intolerance of it. Our default GP surgery just cannot supply Ezetimibe hence the shift into another statin. The GP surgery are not interested in the lack of supply, this is not the only drug she’s taking that is on short supply.

[Blearyeyed in reply to K9ndo]

So is your pharmacy part of your GP surgery? If it is you can politely but firmly remind the GP surgery of the reason your wife is meant to take Ezetimibe ( drug intolerance) and request a printed prescription to take out of house to another pharmacy.

If a GP surgery in house pharmacy cannot get a supply of your drug in good time they are obliged under rules of good practice to give you the chance of getting it elsewhere even if it costs them more money and they are reluctant to do so.

I have had this problem numerous times over the years with a couple of medications, either because of a shirt supply to the distributor for my GP Pharmacy, or because they chose to change brands for drugs which contained Packers which I cannot absorb.

They often kept pushing me continuing to use the Pharmacy they are linked to but I had to stand my ground and calmly return the alternative drug and request the written prescription to take elsewhere until they could get my drug again or in one case I always get a printed prescription for one brand which they always get for me from the supermarket chemist.

You may need to stand you ground.

Are they suggesting that they take the Rosuvastatin alone at a higher dose, or are they suggesting that your wife takes Rosuvastatin and Atorvastatin at the same time?

If it is the later that would seem very odd because your wife would be taking two statins!

I would assume , at the least , that they would need to change her to Rosuvastatin instead of Atorvastatin and then also give her Ezetimibe with that.

Good Luck , Bee

[Elsabounre in reply to Blearyeyed]

Absolutely right about the difference between the two drugs..so the Pharmacist has no right nor the power to issue a statin..he should be reported for this..as there is obviously a reason the patient was not issued a statin in the first place.

[Lowerfield_no_more]

I also take Ezetimibe, and my last repeat prescription was fulfilled without a problem about two weeks ago. I suggest you recover your prescription from the pharmacy who cannot supply it and find one who can. That's what I have done in the past

[Bingofox007]

Out of stock here in Colchester 🦊x

[Brandonsmum]

Hi, I'm on ezetimibe and had a prescription filled last week, I'm with an online pharmacy called Hey pharmacist and they deliver. Hope this helps 😊

[Gail1967]

I couldn’t get it in dec or Jan- pharmacy said it would be back in feb & it was. Fingers x’d it stays!!

[Frogman9]

I has problems getting it from Boots, but the last two months it's been OK it's maybe different areas.

[MWIC]

Hope it’s not - there’s a recent study stating that combined therapy with a statin and ezetimibe helps save many lives 3 years post HA - I reduced Atorvastatin due to muscle pain and now have a lower dose + ezetimibe - muscle pain much better and cholesterol levels better still- I think I’d be challenging that decision

[L8Again]

If you search online there are many reasons given for shortages of generic drugs ranging from manufacturing problems; increased World-wide demand and increased product costs. It is not just a UK problem.

[Partner20]

Unfortunately it is a fact that there is a shortage of many classes of medications, not just nationally but internationally too. I recently had to change not just the brand but the type of medication I had been prescribed due to non-availability. The pharmacist even checked with the manufacturer and was told there would be no supply of my original medication in the near future.Checking with the actual manufacturer, whose details can be found online or in the PIL can be the most accurate way of finding out the status of any medication.

A pharmacist is well-qualified to advise on alternative brands or even medications, but if a different type of medication is the only alternative a new prescription will be needed.

[Tinbird]

I have last 4 months from local pharmacy but i call around other pharmacies local to see if they have any in stock and they usually do. I call my GP an he does me another prescription for those tablets only at different pharmacy to collect. I'm in wales by the way so maybe different in other parts of the country.

[Qualipop]

I've sometimes had problems getting my opiate painkiller that I've taken for over 20 years. There's no alternative as I'm allergic to the cheaper brands. Because it's a liquid, and bottles have to be locked away,most chemists don't keep a stock. I have to ring round every chemist and end up with numerous prescriptions from the GP for one bottle here, two bottles there etc. Going without is not an option both because of the pain and the withdrawal symptoms. My regular pharmacy meanwhile keeps trying to get it as soon as it comes back in stock. Everyone should try to have at least a week's worth or ideally a month's worth of spare tablets of everything these days. It can often b e a problem with just certain distributors so other chemists can often get what yours can't. Ring round everywhere. Your chemist can NOT gi ve you something that's not prescribed without a new prescription.

[blackdogs]

My normal chemist was unable to supply Ezitimbe for about a month so I emailed the manufacturers and they send me the names of 3 wholesalers. I emailed them to my local chemist and they were able to obtain supplies.