Teva being issued in Hillcross boxes!

[Rita-D]

Has anyone noticed that Levothyroxine by Teva is being sent in boxes marketed by Hillcross. I’m really annoyed about this as I specifically said to the pharmacist that I can only tolerate Mercury Pharma brand. He said he would source them. He couldn’t, but suggested Accord. I said I’d check the PILs, they were identical, so I said OK to Mercury Pharma. I’ve had a few health issues since I got them, chest infection and a course of steroids and antibiotics and a bout of AFib so I took my eye off the ball. I had IBS symptoms for 2 weeks and put it down to antibiotics. Took my levo last night and noticed that the pill packet said Teva and it was in a box marked Hillcross. Has this happened to anyone else? I’ve been poorly for 2 weeks because I was given the wrong brand! It’s not like I could even check them as they were in a sealed box! I’m furious! Can’t even ring pharmacist, (out of my town) because they’re not accepting calls because they’re doing Covid jabs.

[tattybogle]

not that you'd be expected to know ,(the pharmacist should have), but just so you know in future , you CAN tell from the outside of the box,

Small print on the side

M.A. Holder:

Teva uk Limited.

[Jefner]

yes and that is another one crossed off my list to take

[tattybogle]

ps.

it's only the 'Hillcross' 25mcg boxes that contain Teva

'Hillcross' 50mcg and 100 mcg boxes contain Accord.

see this post: healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Rita-D in reply to tattybogle]

I understand what you’re saying but it’s not much use to me if I require 125 a day. Irrespective of the number of pills I need to take, I’m still intolerant to the fillers whether it’s a 25mg or 100mg pill.

[tattybogle in reply to Rita-D]

oh ok .. i understood your post as meaning you were ok with Accord (100 and half a 50)

[Rita-D in reply to tattybogle]

No I was given 100 accord and 25 Teva, which I just can’t tolerate.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

As tattybogle has said, it is only the 25 microgram Hillcross that are Teva. The 50 and 100 are Accord.

I try VERY hard to maintain my UK medicines document up to date with this sort of information.

helvella's medicines documents (UK and Rest of the World) can be found here:

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines

helvella has created, and tries to maintain, documents containing details of all thyroid hormone medicines in the UK and, in less detail, many others around the world. There is now a specific world desiccated thyroid document.

I highly recommend viewing on a computer screen, or a decent sized tablet, rather than a phone. Even I find it less than satisfactory trying to view them on my phone.

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines - UK

The UK document contains up-to-date versions of the Summary Matrixes for levothyroxine tablets, oral solutions and also liothyronine available in the UK. Includes descriptions of tablet markings which allow identification. Latest updates include all declared ingredients for all UK products and links to Patient Information Leaflets, etc.

dropbox.com/s/bo2jzxucgp9hl...

helvella - World Desiccated Thyroid

Contains details of all known desiccated thyroid products.

dropbox.com/scl/fi/gx6dmz5i...

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines - RotW

Contains details of all levothyroxine, liothyronine and combination products - excluding desiccated thyroid products. Details available vary by country and manufacturer.

The link below takes you to a blog page which has direct links to the documents from Dropbox and QR codes to make it easy to access from phones. You will have to scroll down or up to find the link to the document you want.

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...

[Rita-D]

Thank you for replying. I wasn’t implying that your information wasn’t up to date. I was just shocked that what was in the box wasn’t what I expected, given that I had specifically told the pharmacist that I had an intolerance to both Teva and Wockhardt and wondered if anyone else had experienced this. Since I’m on 125mg, I needed 25mg to go alongside the 100s. I would have expected the pharmacist to warn me if it was not possible to get them since we’d had a couple of conversations about this and he remembered me asking about Mercury Pharma previously. Seems I need to be extra vigilant with every pharmacist even after discussing specifically and even though it’s noted as Mercury Pharma on the script and also in the cereal pharmacy database.

Since my gp now seems to be issuing digital scripts (my latest one was a digital one), with the intention that you can take it to any pharmacy, I will need to be extra vigilant wherever I go as pharmacists simply cannot be relied on to dispense what is requested. I have suffered unnecessarily for the past few weeks.

Do you think I need to yellow card it? I have previously done this for Teva marketed as Teva. Does the marketing make a difference?

Thank you for all you do to support us. It is very much appreciated.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Rita-D]

Don't worry - I wasn't meaning you had suggested it was out of date. Just that I feel the need to emphasise it as so many other sources of information are out of date or are difficult to navigate.

I am a real fan of Yellow Cards. But in this case, it is difficult to see what you would be reporting? By all means, complain about the packaging and the difficulty you had understanding what is what. Especially that different dosages of Hillcross are different products.

And from now on - always open the bag at the pharmacy counter and check what is in there before moving away.

[Rita-D in reply to helvella]

I have opened the bag at the pharmacy counter in the past and the pharmacist refused to have the wrong pills back because I’d opened the bag! I had to go through the the process of explaining to my gp and getting a new script to get the correct pills and then handing the wrong pills back to be disposed of. They couldn't be issued to anyone else because they had my name on the boxes (even thought they hadn’t even left the shop). They wouldn’t reissue even though it was their mistake! I’ve had 12 years of this ridiculous and farcical system.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Rita-D]

That is silly! Exactly that (unacceptable tablets - ironically Hillcross 25 microgram levothyroxine) happened the other week. And they just took them back because I was still at the counter.

[Rita-D in reply to helvella]

Wish that had happened to me! It was very silly and illogical that they were prepared to destroy a 3 month supply of pills for their mistake! Talk about NHS waste! Infuriating! The same pharmacy destroyed a 6 month supply of T3 (when I finally got it prescribed by an endo after years of fighting for it and after battling with my GP to prescribe it) it was out of date! I could have benefited from that supply but couldn’t get it prescribed! That was when it was at its most expensive, so imagine the cost!

The whole system is broken.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Just re-read. Accord and Advanz Mercury Pharma do NOT have the same ingredients!

My UK medicines document lists ingredients.

[Rita-D in reply to helvella]

Oh OK. I checked the PILs before I agreed to trial them?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Rita-D]

Accord PIL: accord-products-production....

Advanz/Mercury Pharma PIL: mhraproducts4853.blob.core....

Screenshot of UK medicines document

[Rita-D in reply to helvella]

Thank you.

[Tantara]

Did you sort your problem? What did you do? I am having exactly the same issue. Was okay for years until I moved nearer the surgery and now have to use the local Chemist which has recently been taken over and the pharmacist is not helpful in the slightest. They insist they give me Hillcross (Teva) even though I have politely stated that I cannot take Teva every month for the last 6 months. I work away so as always, today I phoned the chemist to ask politely not to put Teva/Hillcross in. Daughter collected my prescription later today. She opened the packet to find Hillcross, I instructed her to leave the Hillcross on the counter. I already have two unopened packages at home. I accept I will have to go under-dosed again for another month. Explained to receptionist at doctors, who won't let me make an phone appointment to speak to a doctor and was told simply I have to find another chemist. Trouble is, I am out in the sticks, the three nearest are all linked and owned by the same brothers. I tried to get the receptionist to stop my 25mg prescription as it is a waste of time and money to the NHS and also because I wanted to still get the 50mg and did not want them to give me the only 75mg tablet available which is Teva. Most on-line pharmacies that sell Levothyroxine privately will not sell a named brand and most show only Teva photo's.