Change of T3 brand

[mischa]

I've been advised by my pharmacy that they can no longer get my brand of T3 - Mercury Pharma.

They offered me Teva which I'm not doing well on.

They can get me Advanz or Accord. Has anyone had any problems on these ones?

I would really like to hear from anyone on either of those two whether good or bad.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

mischa

Advanz is Mercury Pharma

Advanz Pharma Generics (UK) Limited (formerly Mercury Pharma Group Limited)

so take the Advanz, it is Mercury Pharma tablets (maybe they've stopped using the MP name now). I'm surprised your pharmacy doesn't know this.

[mischa in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you so much for your information. I will tell him to order the Advanz.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

What about Roma capsules?

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 maybe 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

Address

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]

[mischa in reply to helvella]

Thank you Helvella for all that information. It is really helpful to have this to hand.