Generic Eliquis

Think this is good news:

[www.medscape.com]

/L

It's absolutely great news. The NOACs are ridiculously priced and a lot of people have a hard time affording them.

The $64K question: when will it "hit the street?"

/L

Perhaps to keep in mind that they are not all produced to the same standards. Suppose it depends where/who makes them?
[peterattiamd.com]

Thank you, thank you Joe!!

I’m married to a pharmacist and he is strict on three beliefs: brand name for cardiac drugs (water pills are ok generic) but beta blockers, Flecainide family drugs, cancer drugs or drugs one prefers not to risk full potency get brand. Rule #2: find out where your generics are made and their temperature control standards. So for us, no hot tropical countries or countries known for sub-FDA standards for temperature control. There is a reason all drugs state store from 68-76 degrees. Below or higher will yield less potency. Did you know there are more births in NY 9 months after winter/heat wave? Birth control pills got cooked. When I travel to the Middle East I carry my drugs in a double insulated bag with a medical digital thermometer. If too hot I use blue ice bags above the top bag, if too cold I turn on the room heater. I get to the airport early for a hand inspection of my drugs (get letter from doctor that meds cannot go in X-ray machine). They say it’s ok at the airport but it does affect the full potency.

Those of you saving a few bucks getting mail order drugs in the summer or cold winters be aware the temperature will affect your drugs. It can get to 118 degrees in the summer and our packages and mail stuck in a non air conditioner Jeep are really hot to touch. Imagine your mail order drugs reaching that temperature...or higher because it’s hotter inside a car. You don’t leave your pets in a hot car, same should go for your medicine.

Once I was ordering Tenormin, brand for atenolol, when it was made in NY. During a blizzard in January the entire lot froze and was useless. My BP was 224/114 and I couldn’t get it down by taking an extra tenormin... so I had to go to the ER. I called up the drug manufacturer and they knew the lot # was bad. Which gets me to his rule #3: when available, ask for the original manufacturer Rx vial instead of having the pharmacists transfer the pills from a sealed original bottle to their plastic bottles. The original has a more accurate expiration date. If you make a hobby of checking the scribble expiration date the pharmacist writes on the vial, sometimes it’s exactly a default year from when filled. Take a look on your Rx vial and has the lot # and ex date available. Last year Accord pharmaceuticals recalled their water pill. I actually got ill and contacted the manufacturer before they recalled it. I had the bottle and lot #.

My insurance pays for brand name if there is no generic drug yet...so this is bad news for me for Eliquis. I pay a $30 co pay regarding on the cost of the brand. When I was on Flecainide, I couldn’t get it in the states.,I had to get it abroad with a Rx. I would have a 12 month Rx to show customs it was for personal use.

Very interesting, Susan. Appreciate your personal insight!

Micro labs, one of the two FDA picked, is in India. All I can say is good luck! I avoid drugs from India-temperature control compliance.

[www.raps.org]

It’s not just my husband or me..I call up mom and pop pharmacies all the time (I have no choice from the bigger union pharmacies such RiteAid, CVS, etc, because they order from the same warehouse and lately as a customer I cannot request which Rx manufacturers pills I would digest. However at a small mom and pop pharmacy, the pharmacist KNOWS. They tell me “ohh I only got a supply from India, let me order you from a different company “...without me first mentioning my preferences.

Mylan, the second manufacturer the FDA approved for the Eliquis generic is in PA. I order from them. Just be proactive and request an USA manufacturer if given the choice.

Susan:

I don't think there are any mom and pop drug stores around, at least we don't have any. We don't know how long drugs are sitting in drug stores before use.

Mom and pop non union pharmacies- in medical buildings usually first floor, close to hospitals, those pharmacies specializing in compounding (mixing ingredients like creams, etc) are some examples

Oh ok, I used to get a hormone cream from a compounding pharmacy that my Holistic doctor ordered from, I believe there is also one not to far from me, I will check it out, thanks.

Liz

In this podcast Peter Attia MD interviews David Light of Valisure

"We sell the same meds that all American pharmacies use, but first put the batches through rigorous chemical analysis so the bad batches are screened out. We summarize our analytics in an easy-to-understand certificate of analysis specific to that batch. We are the only pharmacy to do this."

That is Valisure tests all the meds they sell. I have not used them, as other than very infrequent use of PIP flecainide (2x in 18 months), I take no meds.

Thanks for the info, Susan.

/L

Quote
Elizabeth
Susan:

I don't think there are any mom and pop drug stores around, at least we don't have any. We don't know how long drugs are sitting in drug stores before use.

I have 3 Mom and Pop pharmacies around my house; All locally owned. In Rural areas in Louisiana, The Local pharmacies are plentiful and extremely competitive with the big boys plus you get that home town touch😀