Mercury Levothyroxine unavailable

[csj113]

Hi

In the last few months my (small, independent) local pharmacy have been unable to supply with my preferred Mercury levo. They have told me that they have asked all 5 of their suppliers but can't get it anywhere. I'm Glasgow Southside - is anyone managing to get some in this area?

I have been on Teva but am gaining weight and not feeling good at all (had a lot of trouble with Teva in the past). I've been offered Aristo as an alternative but not sure what to do.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

csj113

As them for Advanz Eltroxin - they make Mercury Pharma and Eltroxin and both are the same tablet. If MP is unavailable they may be able to source Eltroxin.

[csj113 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes they were aware that it was Advanz and can't get that either, they've actually been helpful but have hit a wall. I've phoned around a couple of other places now and been told there are supply issues with lots of drugs at the moment, though no-one seems to know exactly what the problem is.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to csj113]

csj113

In that case I would contact Advanz yourself to ascertain whether there are any supply problems. I believe helvella may have an email address or contact details for them.

[csj113 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks SeasideSusie I might do that. Not sure whether to start just trying other brands - it's so frustrating when I had managed to start feeling well and stable on the right dose and brand.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to SeasideSusie]

When someone reports that a particular medicine cannot be obtained by their pharmacy, I always suggest they consider contacting the pharmaceutical company/manufacturer directly.

We have had many occasions when the information given by the pharmacy to the member has not been accurate.

Examples with good outcomes have included:

• There were issues, but they are now, or will very shortly be, resolved;

• There is no issue and it is not clear why the pharmacy said there was;

• The product has a new branding - and is now only available under the new name;

• Give the pharmacist some information and they will be able to get the product.

And examples with bad outcomes:

• The product is no longer available;

• There is an issue that will not be resolved in the time required;

• The product has been recalled.

Quite often, members have found that the pharmaceutical company/manufacturer can and will advise how a pharmacy can obtain stock. At the worst, you can find out from an authoritative source that there really is an issue that will not be resolved. With pharmacies, you will almost always have at least one extra company - the distributor - between the pharmaceutical company/manufacturer and the pharmacy, allowing confusion to enter.

Chain pharmacies can make things more difficult by preventing individual pharmacists ordering directly from companies. Even then, they can ring the manufacturer and pass on information to others in their organisation.

Some pharmaceutical companies/manufacturers have been extremely helpful to members who have contacted them.

The company name is not always the same as the brand name. You can find the company name on the packaging (though in smaller letters and possibly on the back or bottom) and at the bottom of the Patient Information Leaflet. For example, Mercury Pharma is a brand name but the company is Advanz.

Contact details for most, possibly all, UK pharmaceutical companies/manufacturers can be found here:

medicines.org.uk/emc/browse...

Or the British National Formulary's list:

bnf.nice.org.uk/guidance/in...

Please do come back and let us know how you get on. It helps when members can see whether the shortage was just a very short-term problem, possibly due to a single pharmacy, or widespread and more protracted.

ADVANZ Pharma

Capital House, 1st Floor, 85 King William Street, London, EC4N 7BL, UK

Telephone

[phone]

Medical Information e-mail

[e-mail]

WWW

advanzpharma.com

Medical Information Direct Line

[phone]

Customer Care direct line

[phone]

[csj113]

Thanks helvella that's very helpful. I will keep you all updated if I get a response!

[Hylda2]

I trudged round and rang round many pharmacies before I found one who had MP and that’s in the South of England

[csj113 in reply to Hylda2]

Yes there may be odds and ends left in some places but I guess I want to know if I need to just accept long term it's going to have to be a different brand. I've emailed Advanz so will see what they say.

[Hylda2]

The chemist I finally found put all existing packets in a rubber band for me and very kindly said anymore that come in are mine

[SarahJane1471 in reply to Hylda2]

Mine too 👍

[Buzcat]

I am from Glasgow Southside and I am now having the same problem in 2018 I was given Teva after being on Mercury pharma for years my daughter was the same we became very ill on Teva having to go to A&E a few times I took a heart attack got to see a endocrinologist after I had the heart attack our GP told us to go and get private blood tests done that it was the government to blame and to go to a lawyer the blood tests showed we had multiple thyroid abnormalities Teva is stronger have you put in a yellow card and if you could get in touch with Our health minister about what’s going on there is no shortage of Mercury pharma as my daughter has been in touch with the company

[M066Y]

Same situation for me here in Guernsey, has anyone found a solution?

All local pharmacies are saying that they can only get hold of Teva or Accord branded levo.

Doc has said that he can offer me a private prescription if i can find a stockist of Mercury.

Ive emailed Advanz this morning, currently waiting for a response.

I don't think doctors appreciate how much these things can affect people. I'm mid 30's and try to keep very active so i know in an instant when the tablets are not working and I've linked it to the Teva brand for certain.

Update -

Boots had some 25mcg Mercury in stock so as a short term solution I've managed to change prescription to 3x 25mcg in order to get the mercury tablets on an emergency prescription.

Advanz (Mercury manufacturer) confirmed that there are no manufacturing issues and couldn't understand why there were availability issues. They gave me the contact details for their UK wholesaler Alliance Healthcare. I called Alliance and they said that I could request the brand that i require and send them to a nominated pharmacy if they would agree.

Having spoken to a few local pharmacies, it seems that it all comes down to cost & all but one weren't willing to help. Thankfully Admiral Pharmacy in the local Waitrose store have managed to source the Mercury brand for 2 months initially and said they should be able to get them going forwards. Fingers crossed