Any members having issues with sourcing Teva Levothyroxine and being sent Accord instead. I have returned them to chemist and on a hunt at that moment to try and source from various chemists. Apparently there is a production delay.....I have only ever taken Teva Brand since I was diagnosed in June 2021 with Hashimotos Underactive Thyroid and seem to tolerate them ok and dont want to change for now.
Thank you for reading!
Hi revitalise- I take the same and yes tolerate well- crikey. Better ask the question will local pharmacy.
Just had prescription sent to chemist last week and ended up with 3 month supply of Accord which I have returned and now chasing a number of chemists for what they have in stock as the supplier is not sending them Teva. I am determined not to change my brand at this moment and time.
I cannot remember which now, but one brand is the same as Teva in certain tablet sizes. I had a feeling it was Accord but I could well be wrong. Hopefully someone more knowledgable will come along soon.
Northstar in 25mcg dose size only is made by Teva.
Accord make 50mcg and 100mcg for Northstar and Almus as well as their own brand.
Thanks - I knew it wasn’t as straightforward as it seems! 😊
Telephone Teva helpline they will confirm whether a production problem or not and will even speak with the pharmacy if they are 'fibbing'.
just called Teva Helpline and they said there is no production issue. Called my pharmacy and offered the Teva telephone No but they didn’t want it as he mentioned licensing and his suppliers did not have them in stock. Another local chemist has now got delivery of Teva for me today. I am just going to change pharmacy now.
I had terrible issues and needed the liquid as I am lactose intolerant - and needed Teva only - issue after issue until I finally asked the GP to put TEVA only on the prescription which then overrides their warehouse giving you whatever is in the system at that moment.
Hi, yes I asked my Doctor to put "Morningside" on my prescription for T3, but didn't really make any difference as if the Chemist doesn't have it and you can't get it at another chemist, you have to have something else anyway! I ended up with Mercury Pharma instead, so now have to keep to that one again and cross out the morningside on the prescription. I'm o.k. if I keep to the same make, it's if I keep changing it that I get the problem.
Then you should do something about it - make a complaint higher up the food chain - I even went to my MP and Boots Management when I was being 'refused' TEVA lactose free as I cannot take anything else. You are supposed to be given what is written on the prescription if you aren't then it is dangerous to keep changing as they are expecting you to do.
I was told yesterday by my GP Surgery that they cannot put a brand on the prescription just Levothyroxine is this correct does anyone know?
See my vade mecum:
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, an Appendix of links to many useful websites.
And do keep up to date. I edit it frequently- sometimes trivially, sometimes extensively. If your copy is more than a few weeks old, please download it again. (You must download - not just view in a browser- for the Table of Contents to work.)
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.
Current Topics
• Prescribing Levothyroxine by Brand
From Dropbox:
dropbox.com/s/vp5ct1cwc03bl...
From Google Drive:
drive.google.com/file/d/1P9...
Prescribing Levothyroxine by Brand
Levothyroxine: new prescribing advice for patients who experience symptoms on switching between different levothyroxine products
If a patient reports persistent symptoms when switching between different levothyroxine tablet formulations, consider consistently prescribing a specific product known to be well tolerated by the patient. If symptoms or poor control of thyroid function persist (despite adhering to a specific product), consider prescribing levothyroxine in an oral solution formulation.
Advice for healthcare professionals:
• generic prescribing of levothyroxine remains appropriate for the majority of patients and the licensing of these generic products is supported by bioequivalence testing
• a small proportion of patients treated with levothyroxine report symptoms, often consistent with thyroid dysfunction, when their levothyroxine tablets are changed to a different product – these cases are noted in UK professional guidelines
• if a patient reports symptoms after changing their levothyroxine product, consider testing thyroid function
• if a patient is persistently symptomatic after switching levothyroxine products, whether they are biochemically euthyroid or have evidence of abnormal thyroid function, consider consistently prescribing a specific levothyroxine product known to be well tolerated by the patient
• if symptoms or poor control of thyroid function persist despite adhering to a specific product, consider prescribing levothyroxine in an oral solution formulation
• report suspected adverse reactions to levothyroxine medicines, including symptoms after switching products, to the Yellow Card scheme
Above is directly quoted from link – where there is also further information:
gov.uk/drug-safety-update/l... patients-who-experience-symptoms-on-switching-between-different-levothyroxine- products
Required manufacturer’s product specified in the drug line field of electronic prescriptions. In this example, contractors will be reimbursed according to Teva UK’s NHS list price for Levothyroxine 100microgram tablets and not as per the basic price listed in Part VIII of the Drug Tariff.
The prescriber has free-typed ‘please supply Teva brand only’ into the dosage instructions field. Product information included in the ‘free text’ fields of the electronic prescription are not extracted by the NHSBSA for reimbursement purposes. Therefore, contractors are reimbursed according to the basic price listed in Part VIII of the Drug Tariff price and NOT as per the NHS list price for the Teva UK product if this was supplied.
psnc.org.uk/our-news/levoth... product-required-by-patient/
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
The PSNC committee have detailed information about how prescriptions for specific makes need to be written, and how pharmacies can ensure they get paid properly.
very useful - thank you
Absolutely not correct - Helvella will confirm.
they routinely tell porky pies - it will be a financial decision.
I take liquid Levothyroxine by Teva and my chemist hasn’t been able to get any, so I rang Teva yesterday and was told it came back into stock last week.
I take the liquid too much easier to tweek dose.
If teva liquid levo available again, have you actually been able to obtain it yet? I have a balance owed for liquid levo at Boots, who can usually get Teva liquid. Still no word from them they can supply my balance of 1 bottle. They have my mobile no. to text me. It has been outstanding since 20/9/22.
What strength /strengths have they said are available?
One forum member posted way back that Teva had said it would be available again at the end of September/ beginning of October. It wasn't . No brands were available then.
Did they give you an explanation for the shortage?
Most importantly, Have you or anyone else been able to obtain Teva liquid or any other liquid levo , and if so from where, in last few weeks?
Knowing would be a great help.
Do you have the telephone no.for Tevo you could share? I would like to phone them if I now ask Boots to supply it and they say they can't.
I have called the Teva Customer Service on 0800 590 502 - they advised no production delays and the warehouses would have stock. I located the Teva from another chemist who ordered it in on Sat and I collected on Monday. I got the 100mcg, 50mcg and 25mcg in tablet form. I hope this helps and do post back to let us know how you got on.
Thank you. It is the liquid I need, rather than the tablets. I'll ring Teva and see if liquid should be available.
When I found out, as a courtesy I left a message for the pharmacist informing him it was in stock again, but no, I haven’t received it yet. When I rang Teva back to see if they could work with the chemist they said they can’t deliver direct to them, but they could work with them to help them find the nearest warehouse they could obtain it from.
I only asked about 25 mcg/5ml.
I was given some by Brillpharma but haven’t tried it yet.
Before I rang Teva I rang Lloyds and a local pharmacy and neither of them could get it.
I just got their contact number from their website.
Hope that helps.
Firstly, which chemist did you get the Brillpharma liquid from and on what date?
I got Brillpharma from Lloyds in August, but by 20/9/22, they couldn't get any brand in a liquid. I reckon Brillpharma is fine for me. Since you are okay on Teva liquid , I believe you will be okay on Brillpharma. I got Teva from Boots in July, and reckoned it was fine for me. By 20/9/22, Boots couldn't get any brand in a liquid.
I telephoned Teva today (20/10/22), and they said their liquid is back in stock, and MAKING IT'S WAY TO WHOLESALERS. She said , when questioned , it had been out of stock since the end of September. She couldn't tell me why, but said that it is usually due to "manufacturing issues".
Thank you for your reply . If all forum members post when they have been able to obtain a liquid levo, strength, brand, date obtained, and from where, going forward, I think this will be very useful to all liquid levo users.
I got the Brillpharma one from Alphega Pharmacy about 3 weeks ago. Hope that helps.
Was it in stock, or did they have to order it in for you? You must have got it c.30/9/22.
Lloyds couldn't get it 20/9/22 onwards.
I’ve had the same issue with Teva. The pharmacy keep trying to give me other brands. They did manage to source some Teva but then wouldn’t dispense it as the GP had written ‘Teva only’ in the wrong place 🤷🏼♀️. Apparently Teva is more expensive ……
goingholiday 'Apparently Teva is more expensive '
This is an excuse pharmacy staff frequently use, but is just as frequently untrue. helvella might have some insight into NHS levo prices.
The NHS Drug Tariff prices are readily available. But what price pharmacies have to pay for their stock is not readily available. And will be affected by all sorts of issues.
Follow this link and scroll down to Levothyroxine:
drugtariff.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/#/...
Levothyroxine tablets vary from 82p to £2.58 (for Teva 75 microgram tablets) and £12.49 (for Teva 12.5 microgram tablets).
(Note: Funny how some time back, everyone was reporting that they could only get Teva. At that time it looked like the other makes were more expensive.)
You might have hoped that prescribers would have been properly trained in writing prescriptions!
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
The PSNC committee have detailed information about how prescriptions for specific makes need to be written, and how pharmacies can ensure they get paid properly.
Required manufacturer’s product specified in the drug line field of electronic prescriptions. In this example, contractors will be reimbursed according to Teva UK’s NHS list price for Levothyroxine 100microgram tablets and not as per the basic price listed in Part VIII of the Drug Tariff.
The prescriber has free-typed ‘please supply Teva brand only’ into the dosage instructions field. Product information included in the ‘free text’ fields of the electronic prescription are not extracted by the NHSBSA for reimbursement purposes. Therefore, contractors are reimbursed according to the basic price listed in Part VIII of the Drug Tariff price and NOT as per the NHS list price for the Teva UK product if this was supplied.
psnc.org.uk/our-news/levoth... product-required-by-patient/
Thank you for the information helvella, your knowledge is impressive 😀. That explains why the pharmacy were being so picky!! I have the prescription now thankfully, one of the tasks on the hubby's to do list this morning....... always worth delegating if you think you might be at risk of being a little curt 😂
I’ve not had any problems. I usually get mine delivered for free by one of ‘those’ companies - not sure if allowed to mention name.
Edit: Pharmacy2U is the company that deliver mine. The brand doesn’t seem to make a difference to me, but I have been on this one a while now.
Just to let you know you can ask your Drs to add the brand on to your prescription as per NICE guidelines circa May 2021.
Personally I didn't get on well with TEVA and was happy to change to other brand. I believe the chemists in Sainsbury and Tesco have TEVA. Best wishes
Hi
I use TEVA too - Boots will order it - I have my prescriptions sent from my GP to Boots for collection.
Good luck.
Louisa
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