Obtaining Femara Tablets

[tinx25388]

Just wondering if anyone else is having the same problem as me obtaining Femara tablets...

I work in an MDS unit, with a walk-in Pharmacy downstairs. Part of my role is to order stock, and make sure owings are fulfilled promptly.

I currenlty have 6 prescriptions, each with 2 weeks supply outstanding (I have until Saturday to obtain stock!) have spoken to our Wholesaler, on several occasions, who say that we are well below our quota and we will receive it in our next delivery. Next delivery arrives, no Femara. Speak to wholesalers again, say they dont have a date for it.

So I ring Novartis (as I did last month) and fax over anonymised copies of the Rxs, requesting 6 packs to fulfil these and some new scripts. I received 2 boxes- how do I split that between 6 patients?
I rang Novartis again and they say as they have already supplied against some of the prescriptions, they will not supply again! Last time when I received the stock for those Rxs I had to share with downstairs, who had an understandably angry and anxious customer.

I am at a complete loss as to what I need to do next, as I do feel for the Care Homes and patients, and dont want to let them down.

[Sir_Dispensalot]

going to sound like a silly question but have you ordered the hospital pack versions instead - the wholesaler quotas on those are much larger - we recently had to switch to the smaller packsize due to a similar issue.
ring novartis again and play hell with them. raise a complaint with the psnc. involve the care home and the gp with this situation and pass on contact details for novartis for them to play merry hell with them too.
are you part of a chain? can you secure extra stock from another branch who dont use as much?
could you buy some or do a value-equivalence swop with another pharmacy nearby who dont use as much (we do that sometimes with MCS lines eg giving them equivalent value in ventolins)
are you independent? could you set up a wholesaler account with another of novartis' DTP suppliers? these sometimes slip under the quota radar.

[DavidS]

Novartis absolutely hate it if you tell the GP that Arimidex is easier to get and has a more reliable supply system. It's true as well.

We persuaded a hospital to switch a patient or two recently and the rep was on the phone like a shot. Its no good them saying Femara is better for the patient if it can't be obtained regularly.


I happen to know that Novartis had a meeting last week about problems with supply chain. Obviously no improvement whatever. My suggestion was that if they didn't want to lose custom they should discount pharmacies who order direct to make up for the inconvenience and expense. I don't think it went down well.

Do they understand that stress is the last thing that their patients need at this time of all times?

[JonF]

Novartis absolutely hate it if you tell the GP that Arimidex is easier to get and has a more reliable supply system. It's true as well.

I'm not convinced about that. It took us a week to obtain a supply of Arimidex. We had exceeded our monthly quota and had to fill in various forms to get an increased quota set. It took numerous phonecalls and even had National supply manager phone me. I was promised delivery on TWO seperate occasions and they failed to arrive, eventually i demanded an extra delivery run from Unichem as the patient had been back to pharmacy THREE times to collect!!

Don't even get me started about Novartis...they are the worst out there. I have played hell on numerous occasions and all i get is the industry standard reply of "we supply enough to fulfill the demand of UK market". The 'customer services' are plain rude and the accounts dept an absolute waste of space.

I have twice written to my MP and have filled in hundreds(well it seems like it) of the PSNC complaint forms.........all to absolutely no avail!!!

[johnep]

Ensure the pt has the customer service dept nbr and a name if possible.
johnep

[DavidS]

Have a look at this:-

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: NHS sells off cancer drugs abroad

Not the end, or the beginning of the end, but perhaps the end of the beginning?

Not about Femara, alas, but I'm sure the issue is parallel, if I can put it like that.

A bit cheeky to order lots of sutent, the manufacturers must have thought they had won them over. You could hear the champagne corks popping in the boardroom, I expect; only for it all to go overseas.

[tinx25388]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I have tried the 14 pack, and seem to find that harder to obtain for some reason- might be a local thing. I must admit our wholesalers have really gone downhill since the merger with the company I work for.
The wholesalers customer service department sound really nice on the phone, but dont seem to be able to do anything, and I've lost any patience with the manufacturer!

I'd love to pass the contact details onto the Care Homes, but they have enough on their plates, and the Pharmacist that does advice visits would hate me for it!

Will try some local branches for a swap, but have a feeling they have the same problem as us...

Thanks for your support guys- it is appreciated!

[Pharmanaut]

Ring Novartis and say that the patient is on the way to collect some.
Because the patient is ill, some advisors are accompanying them and they are 'big lads' with 'bad tempers'.

... oh, don't you wish you could do that!

[tinx25388]

I really do wish we could.
I phoned my Head Office today and got them to get onto the wholesaler, to make sure I have some in tomorrows delivery. Only time will tell!!

[bobbin]

Novartis absolutely hate it if you tell the GP that Arimidex is easier to get and has a more reliable supply system. It's true as well.

I also find Arimidex easier to obtain. AstraZeneca (Arimidex) use a DTP arrangement to distribute their medicines. They use AAH and Unichem as delivery agents but they do not sell their stock to wholesalers. Because Unichem and AAH do not own the stock at any point, AstraZeneca retain the right to know exactly where each pack is within the supply chain. This allows AZ to monitor and control individual pharmacy's purchases, and to control stock levels at wholesaler depots. AZ set quotas for individual pharmacies. This system works quite well for Arimidex provided that AZ set the quotas correctly so that they are not exceeded unless inappropriately large quantities are ordered. If AZ set a pharmacy's quota too low, this can be very problematic because you would then have to encourage them to increase it.....which can be difficult. Thankfully, we don't actually use that much Arimidex so we don't generally have a problem obtaining it.

Novartis do not use a DTP arrangement. They only sell their stock to Unichem and AAH, however. Other wholesalers can sometimes obtain Novartis products via AAH or Unichem, if they are willing to sell. Novartis restrict the quantity of Femara that AAH and Unichem are permitted to purchase, but Novartis cannot set quotas for individual pharmacies because it is not a DTP arrangement ie. because AAH and Unichem buy and therefore own the stock, they can do as they wish with it. AAH and Unichem may set quotas for individual pharmacies in some cases.

Novartis' emergency supply arrangements leave a lot to be desired. You cannot order anything for stock, only to dispense owings. You have to set up an account and then fax the scripts. Novartis record the number at the bottom of the script. You cannot fax the same script twice!