Mercury/Advanz pharma liothyronine

[beh1]

My prescription states I must have Mercury liothyronine and this has worked well for years. Lately Boots have said they can’t get Mercury, so I asked them to look for Advanz on their computer ordering system and they were able to obtain my (yes, Mercury) tablets from their central distributing hub wherever that may be.

So, my point is, Boots appear to have changed the name of the manufacturer on their system. Be persistent.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Well done

Here’s post on same subject just know

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Good point …..

helvella …..if pharmacies say they can’t get Mercury Pharma….we should ask then to check for Advanz

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Thank you - I suggested that as a possibility in my post earlier:

Advanz Pharma, levothyroxine AND liothyronine

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Good to have confirmation.

Though I was not specific about Boots because it could be a more widespread issue.

[katherine107]

I had this problem with boots but now sorted

[Minimol]

This has literally just happened to me - my independent pharmacist tells me he will not supply me with Mercury Pharma even though my script says please only supply MP. It’s a price issue - £2:50 v £1. Apparently his problem is that it says this in the additional info part of the script and he needs it written in the first line instead. He also says it shouldn’t say MP Levothyroxine but Eltroxin Levothyroxine. So I’ve been back to the GP surgery and they’ve altered my script accordingly. Remains to be seen if it works. PS i am assuming Eltroxin is exactly the same thing as Mercury Pharma.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Minimol]

It’s a price issue - £2:50 v £1.

Pharmacist is being economical with the truth …..all brands of levothyroxine are the same price paid by NHS to pharmacy

However, different brands may be slightly cheaper at wholesale price.

So pharmacies can make slightly higher profit by supplying cheaper wholesale priced brand

Current prices paid by NHS to pharmacy per box 28 tablets

100mcg - 89p

50mcg - 90p

25mcg - 95p

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to SlowDragon]

I think that if the specific make/product is more expensive than the NHS Drug Tariff prices, the pharmacy can claim more from the NHS - provided the prescription is written correctly.

My Vade Mecum has a short section on how prescriptions need to be written to qualify for higher payments:

helvella - Vade Mecum for Thyroid

The term vade mecum means:

1. A referential book such as a handbook or manual.

2. A useful object, constantly carried on one’s person.

Please don't get put off by the number of pages!

Nor by the fact it is targeted at people interested in thyroid issues. Much of its contents could be of use to many involved in health issues. Things like abbreviations, lists, general reference information.

In particular, it is not intended that you sit and read the document. Just that you download it and know you can look things up.

If there is anything you'd like me to add, let me know.

Not everything is in this one document - my major medicines document is still separate!

From Dropbox:

dropbox.com/s/vp5ct1cwc03bl...

From Google Drive:

drive.google.com/file/d/1ZW...

[Minimol in reply to helvella]

Yes pharmacist was quite open and said he only gets £1 back but it costs him £2:50 UNLESS script is written in a certain way and if it isn’t he will just say that he cannot get hold of a particular item rather than swallow the cost himself

[Minimol]

It also occurs to me to mention that Advanz Pharma was the organisation that were caught out price fixing Lioythyronine. Did they change their name to Mercury as a result of that bad press does anyone know?

[tattybogle in reply to Minimol]

No . it was mercury first , then advanz. but the change to advanz was a long time before the fine. ..... it's rather complicated ,

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Minimol]

Concordia was the company name before Advanz Pharma.

Advanz Pharma (still Concordia at the time) acquired AMCo which was renamed from Amdipharm Mercury - which was formed from merging Mercury Pharma with Amdipharm - and Mercury Pharma had been Goldshield.