specifying brand of thyroxine on prescription

[alchemilla12]

Hi

up until today my pharmacist has always let me have Wockhardt brand of thyroxine but she has now said that i have to ask the surgery to specify it on the precription as she is losing money when she dispenses it as it is more expensive than other brandsand she is only reimbursed the basic price on a non specified brand prescription.

( She was the one who originally gave me this on some months and then other months it was Mercury Pharma but then i asked if I could just have Wockhardt .She never said then that I would need to get my presription changed )

I know the downsides of specifying a brand on the prescription but as I always get it dispensed by her -my local village pharmacy - I suppose theres not likely to be the problems of getting the prescription filled is there?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Yes it helps pharmacist.

I have Mercury Pharma brand written on my prescription.

If they can't get Wockhart, when it's specified on prescription, they can not dispense a different brand......so then you might have to try elsewhere.

[alchemilla12 in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi

yes I realise the problems of specifying but Im hoping that as she herself requested me to do this then she presumably feels confident of always getting this brand - hopefully!

did your GP ask you why you wanted to specify/ or make it difficult for you ? Im slightly concerned as the pharmacist says Wockhardt is more expensive than the other brands so the surgery may be less inclined to agree to this

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to alchemilla12]

They are unlikely aware of price differences in brands of Levothyroxine. They are all pretty cheap (unlike T3)

Print this off if you get any reluctance from GP

Highlight the concluding paragraph

academic.oup.com/jcem/artic...

[helvella Administrator]

The tariff prices seem to be the same for all UK makes of 25 microgram levothyroxine tablets:

bnf.nice.org.uk/medicinal-f...

But the NHS indicative price for Wockhardt is £2.91. So could be true!

[alchemilla12 in reply to helvella]

whats the difference between the tariff price and the NHS indicative price?

[helvella Administrator in reply to alchemilla12]

If I have understood correctly, Tariff is what the NHS will pay, Indicative is the price charged.

Thing is, the Indicative price could vary, for example if there is a special offer to pharmacies.

[silverfox7]

When my Pharmacist suggested getting the brand I wanted on prescription she also suggested I gradually worked up to a month in hand in case she couldn't get it in time so I slowly did that and thankfully I was never let down. This was in the days I could get three months at a time but the next batch was likely to be different. She did ask which brand I preferred but I said if you tell me the brand that you are most likely to get then I'll start on that then get my levels checked after 6 weeks. It worked very well and I soon got the extra month in hand!

[alchemilla12 in reply to silverfox7]

thanks Silver fox -my present surgery only allows for a month at a time but I have got a

" stash " already hoarded in case.

[silverfox7 in reply to alchemilla12]

Yes mine changed to one month but I was glad I had that month in hand.

[Zephyrbear]

I renew my prescriptions online and I always ask for the Wockhardt brand as it is the only one that doesn't make me itch... I have explained this to the pharmacist at the surgery and she has complied with my request, most of the time. They couldn't supply it for my latest request, but a phone-around the other local pharmacies got me the Wockhardt. I live in the middle of nowhere in Wales, so I was quite pleased when the 2nd pharmacist I rang cheerfully told me she had 9 boxes! Ring around... it can pay off and you're not confined to using the same pharmacy for ever.

[alchemilla12 in reply to Zephyrbear]

Hi

Ive not had a problem getting hold of Wockhardt and my pharmacist gets it in for me but she says she is losing money if it isnt specified on the prescription itself as the NHS only reimburse her for the bog standard generic.

[grafkimber in reply to Zephyrbear]

I had to do that today. I don’t have an extra month supply on hand, but will definitely be working on that. My Cytomel is on back order till July. I found it for a couple more months until the next hunt.