Rea has just had another battle to get hold of cellcept. Usual story – all supplies used up. She finally got it from her very local, small pharmacist who is now trying to find further stocks for her and one other patient they have on cellcept. Rea is not alone. Annie’s pharmacist has experienced a recurrent problem getting hold of the pills, but he has, up to now, never let her down.
The difficulty seems to be that wholesalers use up their quota of cellcept quite quickly. Smaller pharmacists seem, in our experience, much more willing to order direct from Roche (the manufacturer of Cellcept), if the wholesalers have used up their supplies. Smaller pharmacists are, in our opinion, also able to build up a relationship with their customers and understand their illness, and the complications inherent in each type of medication their customers are using. As Rea said: ‘My local pharmacist spends a lot of time with me, working out when I am next likely to need medication, and trying to ensure that the medication will be readily available’.
One person we know was told by the “large chemist”, to just ask your GP to prescribe a different immuno-suppressant!
Annie always tries to make sure she has at least two weeks of pills left when she requests her repeat prescription to allow her pharmacist enough time to hunt down a supply.
Do others encounter this difficulty? Perhaps we need to draw the problem to the attention of Roche. What do you think?
