Meds out of stock

H

horse7

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I have a six month prescription and using DPS scheme for years. Last month chemist was out of stock for one item, and I managed to cope with using half a dose of same item, usually when the item comes in a week or two late they will give me the missing item, but this is month two and it's still not in stock yet, so I asked the chemist that hopefully when it comes in stock that they will give me the extra one they were short but they said no , this item has been out of stock before and I want to have it in case of future problems.(it's a sinnus spray).
 
Not OTC here or UK,17€-20€. Have been paying full monthly DSP for last 30years. I'm only thankful it's 80€ now and not 140€ a monthly.
 
I experienced a prescription medication shortage a couple of months ago. I contacted my GP who advised that I should phone around the local pharmacies to see if any had stock. One did, so my GP sent a prescription there for me.

It's worth a try.
 
I've tried 3 so far, including boots, the question is do you think I should get the extra spray if it comes into stock?
 
So...

You are sort of tied to this pharmacy on account of the DPS scheme I guess?
I know that you can go elsewhere but then I presume that the DPS stuff gets messier than if it's done through a single pharmacy?
They were out of stock last month so could not fill the prescription?
What alternative did they suggest to you?
What reason did they give for not filling one month of the prescription even when they have stock in again?
Maybe you need to switch to a more helpful/pragmatic pharmacy?
 
I think that the pharmacies are trying to ration meds which are in short supply.

If everyone stocks up on them, it could create artificial shortages.

Ask your doctor for an alternative and to give you a written prescription so that you can shop around and are not tied to one pharmacy.

Brendan
 
I'm afraid my shopping around days are over due to mobility, I'm lucky that my other medications are not affected.
 
horse7 said:
I've tried 3 so far, including boots, the question is do you think I should get the extra spray if it comes into stock?
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I think the problem here is the chemist can only issue what your prescription says, if your spray was not available in August he cannot double your dose in September by giving you 2 sprays when they are back in stock.

The DPS would also not pay for 2 sprays on the same day in September if the prescription says only 1 is needed monthly.

I know it does happen when chemists issue 28 days meds and there are up to 31 days in some months, so sometimes you do get your meds twice in the same month but at different ends of the month.
 
The DPS makes it tricky, I think under that scheme you are stuck to one per period.

If not on DPS and willing to purchase privately you could try get prescription copy sent to healthwave who deliver.

Another avenue of discussion with pharmacist. It might be that there are multiple ingredients that is in the prescription version but one of the active ingredients can be purchased in an over the counter product such as flixonase. Or if the prescription product is out of stock, this could be substituted. This might help you to ration out your main prescription.
 
odyssey06 said:
If not on DPS and willing to purchase privately you could try get prescription copy sent to healthwave who deliver.
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horse7 said:
I'm afraid my shopping around days are over due to mobility
Click to expand...

This is very important.

A few of the discount chemists actually deliver. Healthwave is only one of them. I stopped using them as they were much more expensive than Chemist Warehouse and would not answer my questions when I asked why.

Brendan
 
Chemist Warehouse is by far the cheapest option in my experience with several different prescription meds.
 
If you are only taking half of your medication then you should be having a serious conversation with your doctor, if not done already. They may prescribe something else or a generic tablet
 
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