Vancomycin Shortage - Cheaper Vancomycin

[Guest]

We have had a several reports that Eli Lilly has run short in production of oral vancomycin capsules, which could constitute a real emergency for many. In addition to this, we understand that the IV form of vancomycin is much cheaper than the capsules, which can be very important if you don't have prescription drug insurance. One of our members, who is a pharmacist, has provided the following recipe for converting the form of vancomycin intended for IV/injection use to a solution which can be substituted for the capsules: <BR> <BR><!-- BBCode Start --><B>Order 1 gram vancomycin vials (the kind that hospitals reconstitute and give intravenously to patients). The drug in the vials is a "lyophyllized powder" which needs to be reconstituted into a liquid. <BR> <BR>Dilute each vial with 20mL sterile water for injection for a solution yielding 125 mg/2.5 mL (2.5 mL = 1/2 teaspoon). The solution is stable for 14 days when refrigerated.</B><!-- BBCode End --> <BR> <BR>To use this recipe, you will need to give it to your doctor. Your doctor can then write a prescription for the vancomycin to be "compounded" in this manner and given to you for oral use. Make sure you do not get more than you will use in 14 days via this method, as the medication will have to be discarded after that time. <BR> <BR>Contained in the following messages is a history of our knowledge of the issue, as well as discussion of how to deal with any insurance issues that may arise in using the IV form of the drug orally.<BR><BR>[Guest Posted by: 'Lauren
']

[Guest]

Lauren, <BR> <BR>People may encounter problems with their insurance not covering an intravenous medication when taken orally. I sure did with Health Net! <BR> <BR>The solution? Have the prescribing physician contact the insurance company and jump through whatever hoops are necessary to get the prescription covered. Mine did, thank goodness, and my insurance paid. <BR><BR>[Guest Posted by: 'Friday']

[Guest]

Andrea, <BR>I'll post more later but wanted to get this information to you a.s.a.p. so you can phone your doctor. There is a "recipe" for making IV Vanco. into oral Vanco. It's posted in the FAQ section under "Aid in Obtaining Medications" -- second post. Friday (who is a pharmacy student) supplied the information. Read about it and then call your doctor. <BR> <BR>More later. <BR><BR>[Guest Posted by: 'Bobbie']

[Guest]

I also ran into the Vanco shortage problem and worked it out just through my regular pharmacist (at the grocery store). I called Ely Lilly and they said their literature that comes with the IV vials says that the IV vials can be taken orally for C. Diff. colitis. The pharmacist showed me how to use an ordinary needle syringe to mix it myself. They did have to enter it into the computer a certain way to make sure insurance would cover it. I'm not sure what they did, but it was approved and that's all I cared about. When I called Ely Lilly two weeks ago they said that the 250 mg was expected to be available at the end of June/first of July. The 125 mg was not expected to be available until August. <BR><BR>[Guest Posted by: 'Jenny S.']

[Guest]

I think Americans are allowed to bring back a 90 day supply of prescription drugs for their personal use. I live in Canada and we hear on the news about special bus tours bringing elderly people from US to Canada on a prescription drug "shopping spree"! <BR> <BR>Various government regulations keep the drug prices in Canada lower than in the US. So, older people who live near the border and are on fixed income without a drug insurance policy (and are typically on seversl prescription drugs) save hundreds of dollars by coming to Canada on these tours. <BR> <BR>In terms of Vanco supply in Canada, I had no problems finding it here. But as Sam said my pharmacy always told me that they don't keep much in in stock due to the high price. So they would give me enough for a few days and I always had to wait a few days till they got the rest of my prescription from their whole seller. <BR> <BR>I must add that my information regarding the supply is two months old, because thankfully I haven't had to buy any more Vanco since I did Dr. Borody's infusion in June <IMG SRC="http://www.cdiffsupport.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)" width="15" height="15"> <BR> <BR>MX <BR><BR>[Guest Posted by: 'MX']

[Guest]

Lori, <BR>Eli-Lilly has repeatedly given the same kind of timeline for restarting production of Vanco for a year now. They stopped production last Spring and every time someone calls their customer service dept. they're told the Rx will be released 2 months down the road or so. It is interesting to note that as of last June, two things happened; one, E-L's patent on Vanco ran out and the generic drug was to come on-line and two, officials at NIH publically acknowledged for the first time that Vanco was no longer the "antibiotic of last resort" that worked against the most prevalent form of staph infections in hospitals. That form of staph has now become resistant to Vanco. <BR> <BR>Actually, there is a third issue that I believe is involved and is not just coincident with E-L's so-called "production problem" with Vanco. As you may know, the present White House administration has been lobbying to get a bill passed that extends the U.S. patent law to keep existing patents in place for an additional several years, i.e. maintaining the high cost of drugs, among other things on patent. As I understand it, such a bill is either before the U.S. legislature now or is soon to be or may have already been passed. One can only imagine how all these things together have led to a company literally not producing one of the most successful and expensive of its drugs for an entire year and I have no idea why they would do such a thing, but I can't believe there's any such thing as a "production problem" at issue here. It is not beyond imagining, however, that E-L is working feverishly behind the scenes to block any company from releasing their own generic form of Vanco while E-L waits out the bill that will allow them to restart production under their exclusive patent. But that's not the kind of info you're going to get from customer service. <BR><BR>[Guest Posted by: 'Liz2']

[Marcia]

So it's how the story goes.
ViroPharma's shares plunge on generic concerns:

http://today.reuters.com/investing/fina ... PHARMA.xml

[Lauren]

Contributed by sks001 (Sandy). Thank you, Sandy!

The following is a great web site. It gives the toll-free 800 numbers for every pharmaceutical company and the name of the program. They even have a section on NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR RARE DISORDERS (NORD) with a list of specialty meds.

http://www.rxassist.org/pap-info/default.cfm

Perhaps if a Site Administrator reads this post they will place this web site under the proper topic and the ViroPharma Patient Assistance Program toll free number 1-866-694-2547 as the ViroPharma web site only gives their long-distance number.[/url]