Isosorbide Mononitrate - A Perfect Storm?

These days there are always products going in short supply - due to a variety of reasons: quota, manufacturing problems, distribution issues etc - and pharmacy staff are spending considerable time and effort attempting to obtain supplies of these drugs for patients or liaising with prescribers to get an alternative product.
 
On rare occasions, however, a perfect storm occurs...a product goes short that is really difficult to replace and this time it's isosorbide mononitrate...
 
We have been told that the 20mg tablets will be unavailable until May, so pharmacies are struggling to meet demand with 10mg and 40mg tablets. The problem is that these products are obviously getting very expensive (if you can get them)...at the time of writing I've just bought some 10mg tablets for £19-97 for 56 - and the Drug Tariff reimbursement price is £1-74 (cat M)...I was glad to here that it has now gone NCSO so that pharmacies will be not be considerably out of pocket!
 
Adding to the problem is that modified release products and the dinitrate are in short supply, so It's likely that patients will be referred back to prescribers in droves soon for alternatives - adding more complexity to the situation.
 
Make sure you keep an eye on our home page for information and local guidance.

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