UKC

Got a problem, or rather Mrs. has.

For some years she's been on some medication manufactured by Pfizer. At one time, a couple of years ago, Boots supplied some on the prescription which were made(presumably) under licence by another company. She had serious side effects with these tablets and could not get on with them and we managed to impress on Boots that her tablets HAD to be the one and only Pfizer tablets.

Everything was fine until last week when I went to collect her meds. I looked at the packet and told the pharmacist that they were not the Pfizer tablets. He, however, pointed to some wording on the box which we now realise says, in effect, that these are made by company X under licence from Pfizer.

It seems to me that the problem is not with Boots but with whoever Boots get their supplies from and I'm asking Boots for further info on this. In the meantime can anyone else think of anyway that we can ensure that we get the meds that are actually made by Pfizer and not by the licence holder?

Sorry this is rather complicated.

In reply to mypyrex:

Is there a brand name for the Pfizer ones? If so the answer is for the doctor to write the brand name and not the genetic name on the prescription.

Has she discussed this with the prescribing doctor?

In reply to marsbar:


Yes but the problem seems to be with whoever supplies the local Boots branch. I spoke to the senior pharmacist there yesterday and he was saying that they only get what the distributors send them. The distributors in turn send Boots tablets "X" regardless of whether they are made by Pfizer or the licence holder. We suspect that Boots are being sent the cheapest version.

The Doctor endorses the prescription "Must be Pfizer" but presumably somebody in the chain does not differentiate between Pfizer and the licence holder.

In reply to mypyrex:

The solution may be to find a smaller independent pharmacy? They may find it easier to order what you want not what they get sent.

In reply to marsbar:
We've tried several chemists in the area, with the same result. The trouble is there are few, if any, independents within reasonable distance.

My own thoughts are that this needs to be addressed at the manufacturer/distributor level.

In reply to mypyrex:

Well, I hope you get it sorted.

In reply to mypyrex:
Hi

I'm a pharmacist, so may be able to help...

Without knowing what drug it is, it's difficult to know the answer. If the doctor prescribes the Pfizer brand, then the pharmacy have to dispense the Pfizer brand. If Boots order the Pfizer brand from the wholesaler, then that's what they'll get.

Using the drug atorvastatin as an example: if the doctor prescribes "atorvastatin tablets" then Boots will order "atorvastatin tablets" from a wholesaler - these could be any brand. If the prescription is for "Lipitor tablets" (the Pfizer brand) then Boots will order and dispense "Lipitor tablets".

Sometimes the same brand will be reformulated - for various reasons (manufacturing, stability, change in manufacturer, etc etc etc). These changes have to be approved by the licensing authorities (i.e. the MHRA).

The actual drug will be the same: the difference may be in the excipients (the other bits and bobs that go into making a tablet/capsule). Sometimes people are sensitive/allergic to an excipient. Without having the list of excipients from brand(s) that do or don't suit Mrs Pyrex, it's difficult to start finding another suitable option. However it's worth a try.

Message me if you'd like to discuss more specifics in confidence.

Becky

In reply to Becky E:

>If Pfizer sell the product/licence to another company, then ordering by brand will get the new company's version (which may be formulated slightly differently)

Thanks for your very informative comments. I think that is precisely what is happening(as above).

I'm going to Boots tomorrow; if I don't have any luck I'll pm you.

Thanks again

In reply to mypyrex:
I also used to take a drug manufactured by Pfizer, but when that came off-patent or whatever it's called, last year I've been getting two generic versions (£1000 p.a v £10000 p.a). I've not had any issues with the generic replacements but some pts have had allergic reactions to the chemical used in the dye so they're back on the Pfizer version but only after they've been given the approval of their CCG and they're back on the trade name variant.

In reply to mypyrex:

I have just edited my original post - hopefully to make it easier to understand (hubby sitting next to me said version 1 was confusing).

Happy to help if I can.