What make are these tablets?

[Rennixon]

Picked up my prescription today & had these in an unmarked(brand) bottle. Just stating they are 25mcg levo

Can anyone identify what brand they are please?

[Clutter]

Rennixen,

Why don't you telephone your pharmacy and ask them? They should have given you a patient information leaflet which would have identified the brand, and the batch no. and expiry date should have been put on your bottle.

[Rennixon in reply to Clutter]

Yep I telephoned & the assistant didn't know, she said the only info she had was that they were definitely not TEVA as this brand was specifically marked as 'do not supply to patient' Seems I may have wait until Monday morning & speak to the pharmacist

[Clutter in reply to Rennixon]

Rennixon,

It's not Wockhardt which is debossed TX25 one side and some other debossing on the other side. It's not Actavis either because they don't do 25mcg.

Google 'Mercury Pharma 25mcg' and "Teva 25mcg" images.

[Rennixon in reply to Clutter]

After looking at both these I don't think it's either. Wightmouse may have hit on something though 🙂

[wightmouse]

Found this! Looks like Eltroxin 25mcg?

medicines.org.uk/emc/medici...

[Rennixon in reply to wightmouse]

Looks like this could be it -thanks. I will check on Monday as I don't really want to take them without knowing exactly what they contain.

[nightingale-56 in reply to wightmouse]

Rennixon I'll second what wightmouse says. I just happened to have a discarded box of Eltroxin by my side and it looks exactly the same. Tried them a couple of months ago and could only stand them for 3 days. Hope they suit you.

[Toni_Anderson1979]

I think they are Levethyroxine. Basically there thyroid tablets, I take them myself as I have a thyroid problem also.

[Rennixon in reply to Toni_Anderson1979]

Thanks Toni, yes I know they are levorthyroxin, but I needed the brand as I'm sensitive to the contents of some tablets

😊

[helvella Administrator]

They are Concordia International (formerly AMCo) Mercury Pharma (whether originally labelled as Eltroxin or just levothyroxine).

I think it was last year, Mercury Pharma changed the debossing on their tablets to be LT 25, LT 50 and LT 100.

PIL for 25:

medicines.org.uk/emc/PIL.27...

PIL for 50 and 100:

medicines.org.uk/emc/PIL.27...

The documents were updated September 2016. Just the month before Teva launched their new formulation.

The MHRA states, quite clearly and unambiguously:

Medicines must include a patient information leaflet (PIL) if the label does not contain all the necessary information.

gov.uk/guidance/medicines-p...

It is, in my opinion, obviously completely ludicrous for the MHRA to say that, to publish lots of documents about Patient Information Leaflets, and then for pharmacies to fail to pass them on.

Surely it MUST be considered malpractice, don't you think.

[helvella Administrator in reply to helvella]

Yesterday I picked up my latest prescription. Opened the paper bag while stood at the counter and checked the make, the batch and expiry dates. Once happy, I left.

If they ever supplied unidentified medicine I would insist on a PIL before leaving the counter. Also batch number and expiry.

[Rennixon in reply to helvella]

helvella

I couldn't agree more about the pharmacy supplying a leaflet with all medication. I normally pick up my prescription in person & like you I open the bag & check, this time though my OH went & of course didn't check as I would have done. I wonder if they thought it acceptable because the prescription also contained a box of 100mcg activis ?

[helvella Administrator in reply to Rennixon]

Just realised that my comment could have looked to be criticism of you - absolutely not intended, nor of your OH!

If Actavis and Mercury Pharma were identical, it just might have been acceptable. Neither the products, nor the PILs are identical. So it is still, in my book, malpractice. And without batch and expiry, what would you be expected to assume if there were a recall of specific batches? How would you be able to report a bad batch? And without expiry, all you could sensibly do is assume one month to expiry. (Or, of course, ignore expiry but that isn't encouraged.)

[Rennixon in reply to helvella]

Oh my gosh, no! None taken at all, didn't cross my mind.

I'm with you that they should have at least printed the expiry date /batch number on the label. My OH says it was a different pharmacist to the normal one so I can only think they were a little slap-dash.

[Sybilla14]

They are Eltroxin by Mercury Pharma, all their strengths are marked with 'LT'. I've been requesting their 25, 50 and 100 in the last few months after poor experience with Actavis.

[Rennixon in reply to Sybilla14]

Thank you Sybilla14

Yes I think they are this brand too. I used to have them a while back (not 25's) so I should be ok on them. 🙂

[Hidden]

Someone has said Eltroxin. This can't be right as Eltroxin brand are no longer manufactured. I make sure my pharmacy only gives me mercury pharma so that I get the same brand at all times. They have these markings.Just reject them on the basis that you need to now the brand and expiry,

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hidden]

DrRen,

Sorry - but it can be right.

Eltroxin has been available from time to time in the UK. Just the other week someone posted a picture of their newly-dispensed 25 microgram packet.

I even posted my hypothesis about its occasional availability in the UK:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Further, although the Eltroxin branded product has often not been available in the UK, it has often (always?) been available in Ireland.

Finally, you can view the Patient Information Leaflets for Eltroxin tablets on the EMC site. You can see they have the same Product Licence numbers as their Mercury Pharma levothyroxine products. When a product is withdrawn, it will also be removed from that site.

[Hidden]

Well my pharmacist, who is generally excellent, is adamant that they stopped producing over a year ago. I used to use them so switched to mercury pharma generic brand.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hidden]

My current belief, outlined in the post I linked to, is that because Eltroxin is the reference brand, whenever another product needs to be compared to the reference product, Mercury Pharma have to produce a batch of Eltroxin. (Even if the tablets are identical to Mercury Pharma levothyroxine as Concordia International state.)

Last year, availability of Eltroxin preceded launch of New Formulation Teva. And the other week seems to precede the rumoured launch of a 25 microgram Actavis product.

We know beyond all doubt that Eltroxin is available from time to time. That your pharmacist cannot see it in her/his ordering system, and even if ordered, cannot get it at that specific time does not mean that they have permanently stopped production. The evidence the pharmacist can see does not seem to preclude occasional availability.

[Rennixon in reply to Hidden]

DrRen

Ha ha this made me smile. I've been using the same pharmacy for over 20 years & I'd have defended him to the hilt, but on this occasion they failed me.

[Sybilla14 in reply to Hidden]

I had Eltroxin 50 and 100mcg dispensed over the last few months - each time it was from Boots, who sourced it when I requested the Mercury Pharma brand. The expiry date on some of them is 11/17 and 01/19 on others.

[Hidden]

There is a thread here from 2014 stating that it was no longer produced. Perhaps they have started again. Notwithstanding this the markings on the tablets are identical to mercury pharma.

[Pascha1]

These are the same as mine and definitely the same they are Mercury Pharma ones I take the 25 mgs and have LT on one side and and 25mgs on other. You probably have found out by now that they are made by them .