"No Cheaper Stock Available"

[DavidS]

Another moan, I'm afraid. Two actually.
First, why do the PSNC make their website so difficult to search. Here is the link to the No Cheaper Stock Available page: Generic Medicine Shortages · Funding & Drug Tariff · PSNC

Secondly, they must lose such a lot of drug budget by getting Cat M prices for some things too cheap. Take Gabapentin. The Cat M price is less than a fiver, the price for Neurontin is over £40!!!!!!!! Aside from the "how can Pfizer justify that -- oh, they've got to pay for their direct to pharmacy allocation wholesaler seperate invoicing fax-reception department thingy" thingy, wouldn't it be better if the DuH cut a bit of extra slack on the price, encouraging manufacture, so that there would be enough stock consistently available. For the past two months at least, Gabapentin 300 has been on the NCSO list, so the NHS is effectively losing a LOT of money through poor judgement/formulaic thinking of the Cat M price. DuH!

Also (as a buy two moans get one free), how come it took them three weeks to get it added to the list in May?? At least its been left on for this month as well. We / no-one can afford to keep unneeded neurontin in stock, so its always get a script and order it in when it shows up on the list (or send the patient back to the Docs for a new script written for the proprietary).

FINALLY I notice today that nizatidine 300mg is on the list. FFS, has no-one in the PSNC or the department any practical experience or common sense? You couldn't make it up, could you.
(No, I'm not saying why. Work it out.)

[bobbin]

I often use NCSO when we *can* get a generic but it costs more than the tariff price eg. gabapentin 300mg caps at the moment. I've not had to order Neurontin yet. Some wholesalers appear to have supplies of the generic but are selling at relatively high prices.

[DavidS]

Gosh, I didn't know that. Thanks for that.

So we are actually better off by a long way dispensing neurontin than ordering over-drug-tariff-priced gabapentin generic if the ncso endorsement is allowable.

[bobbin]

Yeah, you just need to endorse the name of the supplier and the price instead of the brand name. Don't forget that the endorsement needs to be signed and dated or else it will not be accepted.

eg. you could endorse....

1 x 100 gabapentin 300mg caps dispensed. NCSO, Mr. DavidS, 12/06/2010, obtained from Mawdsleys, cost of £4.99 per pack of 100.

I do not know what Mawdsleys are charging (if indeed they have any gabapentin), I just invented the £4.99 bit.

[DavidS]

Don't forget that the endorsement needs to be signed and dated or else it will not be accepted.

been there, not done that, irritated the staff to hell.