Hi
I am not managing to get getting Mercury Pharma levo down here in Dorset. Having hiked my prescription to umpteen chemists I am finding that they all seem to be stocking the new Teva formulation. Several have phoned their suppliers all to be told it is not available.
I wonder if Teva are offering some cheap price to the suppliers?
Think I might have to give it a try. Didn't do well on Activis so slightly reluctant but hey ho!
Foreversummer
Foreversummer,
Contact Mercury Pharma customer service amcolimited.com/contactus/1574 to see if they can tell you where it is currently available or how your pharmacy can get hold of it.
Thank you so much Clutter. Will give them a ring and let you know how I get on.
Please do - if we know, we can let everyone know.
I really have not got the time during my working day to spend calling them.
I have phoned amco limited today as Clutter suggested. They say there is no problem with production, there is plenty in stock. The chap I spoke to suggested that I speak with a pharmacist and ask them to source it from Phoenix Healthcare as this supplier keeps stocks of all strengths. I don't know if my surgery will be able to do this as they tell me they only have access to two suppliers and I bet neither of them are Phoenix!
I'll keep you updated on progress.
foreversummer,
Thanks both for phoning them and for posting back.
This seems to say that we cannot trust pharmacists' claims about supplies - even if, as you wrote, "Several have phoned their suppliers all to be told it is not available."
It is unacceptable for us to be told that it is not available when it plainly is. Patients have no access to, nor understanding of, the intricacies of pharmaceutical distribution. We cannot get the real story. We cannot tell the difference between one supplier having an issue and the manufacturer not supplying the market.
This is very much not the first time we have seen this sort of issue.
Rod,
I am more sceptical than ever. Each pharmacy I've been to has offered me Teva. I truly believe that Teva is offering a cheap deal to get them in the market (maybe a BOGOFF offer!). My prescription has Mercury Pharma on it at the suggestion of my dispensing surgery as they say their suppliers cannot get it and they thought maybe a local chemist could. They can't.
One thing is for sure we cannot trust the system. It is not the first time you have seen this sort of issue and it won't be the last.
Foreversummer
Have you tried online pharmacies?
nhs.uk/Service-Search/pharm...
Thanks Rod. I have officially given up. I have decided to try Teva. I have looked at the ingredients in Actavis and I can't identify anything different in there that's not in MP so I've no idea why I didn't get along with it. I can see that Teva has arcadia in it but I don't believe I have a problem with that as I have taken supplements in the past without effect. It could simply be down to a strength issue and I know I am sensitive to small dose changes. Let's hope that Teva get it right this time!
Hi Foreversummer,
Ask your GP tp specify the Mercury Pharma brand name on your prescription and then your pharmacy will have to buy it in. A while ago a mandate was sent to pharmacies telling them to fill scripts with the cheaper generic drugs to save money, hence the change to Tevo. I have a funny feeling Tevo is made by Mercury Pharma but I cannot be 100% sure. If you are still having problem PM me and I'll try to help further.
Good luck.
TT x
ThyroidThora,
Teva levothyroxine is not made by Mercury Pharma.
The current prevalence of Teva is actually likely to be at least partly because Teva have only recently re-introduced a levothyroxine product to the UK market. Many companies use various strategies to ensure that a newly-released product is taken up. I have no idea what they have done, even what they are allowed to do, but it seems likely they have done something.
If someone gets a make of levothyroxine written on their prescription, they can suffer when there are shortages, or when there are changes to the available products. For example, right now, anyone with a prescription saying "Wockhardt", "Actavis", "Mercury Pharma" levothyroxine, or Eltroxin would not be able to get Teva levothyroxine. Indeed, I suspect that substituting Eltroxin for Mercury Pharma levothyroxine (or vice versa) could be refused even though they are actually the same product in different packaging.
(Teva have distributed Mercury Pharma products for some time. That might have been a source of confusion.)
Oh! Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't aware of this information.
The reason I suggest get the brand named on the prescription is that sometimes some people are allergic to the fillers and such like in other brands even though the active ingredient is the same. I have Mercury Pharma but my pharmacist swapped it for one of the other brands and I had an allergic reaction.
TT x
I absolutely endorse being careful to keep to the same make. I just question the wisdom of having that written on the actual prescription. Lots of makes have disappeared - either from the market or by being rebranded. Whether a pharmacist understands sufficiently to interpret a prescription made out for a non-existent brand is questionable.
For example: APS, Alpharma, Goldshield, Norton, Ivax, Cox, CP Pharmaceuticals, Hillcross, ...
Hence, possibly better to come to an agreement with a pharmacy - with you in the position of accepting or rejecting the offered products.
Yep, that's sound a posibility provided you get the same pharmacist every time a prescription is filed.
From my very earliest involvement with thyroid medicines (when I knew absolutely nothing) pharmacies have generally been willing and able to add comments onto their computer systems "Always dispense Brand X". Of course, some do so willingly and happily, others grudgingly.
My pharmacist often tries to give me other brands but I check my medicines before I leave the chemist and he swaps it back because he knows I've had reactions to other brands.
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