Semglee shortage?????

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highlander317

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Type 1
Hi all
Been waiting now for 2 weeks for the rest of my prescription of semglee, but still a shortage apparently, and one else have any issues with semglee, at all?

Going to check on other pharmacies in the local area, ( Clacton,Essex), to see if any one else is having trouble with stock.
Thought initially, the stock issue was due to people collecting their prescriptions early over Easter holidays but that appears to be wrong, well at my designated pharmacy.

Thanks

Lee
 
There seems to be a lot of shortages these days. I can't get Normacol for love nor money. Have taken it for years for my diverticulitis. :( Not even Boots can get it. Also blue wheelie bins. There's something they make blue wheelie bins with can only be obtained from Ukraine... probably the blue!
 
If there was an actual shortage I am pretty sure Diabetes UK would have been informed.
@everydayupsanddowns Do you know of any issues with Semglee?

Often these issues are an ordering issue where a pharmacy supplier has cocked up but don't want to admit it so it is easier for them to say there is a shortage.

Must be very concerning for you. Are you running low? Could they perhaps supply you with an equivalent Glargine insulin like Lantus or Abasaglar?
 
@Ditto I just buy psyllium husk off ebay and chia seeds from Lidl and put a dessert spoon of each in a glass of water with whatever flavouring you like ie sugar free squash etc. Give it a mix and drink it down and it works an absolute treat. In fact the chia seeds work better than the psyllium, which is what I believe the Normacol will be. It essentially becomes a homemade Fibogel.
 
rebrascora said:
If there was an actual shortage I am pretty sure Diabetes UK would have been informed.
@everydayupsanddowns Do you know of any issues with Semglee?

Often these issues are an ordering issue where a pharmacy supplier has cocked up but don't want to admit it so it is easier for them to say there is a shortage.

Must be very concerning for you. Are you running low? Could they perhaps supply you with an equivalent Glargine insulin like Lantus or Abasaglar?
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Fairly new to type 1, since July 2022, not had this problem before. I will contact the diabetes team Monday and then probably the doctors to see what they can do. I only take 16 semglee units a day, starting a new pen just last week with 1 spare one in the fridge. Think that works out at 1 pen for just over 2 weeks?????
Got plenty of novorapid, no issues there.

It's a bit worrying, it's just aggravation of making phone calls to get something sorted, then collect the prescription and collect it etc

Lee
 
Sorry to hear you’ve had difficulty getting your prescription for semglee filled @highlander317 :(

I’m not aware of any notifications of current supply disruption - but sometimes there can be localised stresses.

Hopefully it will only be temporary issue.
 
If I can offer a couple of general thoughts based on things I have heard from a Pharmacist.

Things in the world of medicine supply are a bit topsy turvy all round. There are no shortages of anything as such, but the supply routes are a bit chaotic.

Not making a political point but one of the consequences of Brexit is a disruption in anything supplied from Europe. It is a fact that it is a bit of a fag to send stuff (be it tomatoes or medication) to the UK and supplying the UK will be low on the list of priorities for manufacturers.

A second and more difficult thing to understand, although it is one that anybody who has been engaged in retail will recognise, is the consequence of disturbing the manufacturer-distributor-wholesaler-retailer supply model. In many retail fields this model is disappearing where the wholesaler is disappearing and there is a tendency for distributors to be owned by the big retailers. It makes good business sense to do that but it means that if there is a run on Joe Blogs patent elixir, and you need it, then you will have to run around the pharmacies owned by the distributor to find it because the distributor will not be supplying pharmacies owned by another distributor and certainly not your local chemist. Privatisation has its downsides as well as its upsides.

I am sure things will settle down but I would suggest that anybody who needs important specific medication on a regular basis cultivates a relationship with one pharmacy, recognise their problems, and work to get them on your side when it comes to obtaining your meds. If they are having supply difficulties, then they are more likely to direct their stocks towards their regular customers rather than bowing to the demands of somebody in a bad mood touring the pharmacies looking for something specific. It also helps them plan their ordering.

I don't know if we have anybody associated with pharmaceutical supply on the forum, but if we have, and I have got it wrong, then feel free to put me right.
 
Docb said:
Things in the world of medicine supply are a bit topsy turvy all round. There are no shortages of anything as such, but the supply routes are a bit chaotic.
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DUK do occasionally get notified of short term shortages for various meds (delays in shipments etc), and occasionally some device manufacturers experience problems with meeting demand, for example when a hurricane splatted the Costa Rican manufacturing plant for Medtronic sensors some years ago - just at the time when lots of new customers were being taken on after the demise of Animas.

Occasionally there are other pressures too - for instance I gather supplies of Ozempic to the UK are expected to be under some strain for much of this year. Possibly in part because of ‘off label’ use fuelled by social media.

All too often though I get told by a pharmacy that there’s a ‘manufacturing issue’ when actually it’s just a hiccup in the wholesale / delivery / supply chain stuff from their specific distributor, and another pharmacy near me will have plenty of stock readily available.

As you say @Docb - it can all be a bit chaotic!
 
I can throw in another practicality. Remember the HRT shortage all over the news a few weeks ago? It's largely gone away but the solution to the problem has not had much coverage.

Essentially the shortage was caused by the granting of export licences for their product to British manufacturers who promptly allocated chunks of their production to export markets where they could get better returns (ie, they could sell at higher prices). Result, a shortage of HRT in the UK. The export licences were revoked and the problem disappeared. I don't know for sure but I would not be surprised if there was a "price adjustment" for supply to the NHS as compensation.

There is always more to these medical supply issues than you see in the headlines and the solutions are sometimes quite invisible to those making all the noise. Inevitably, you end up with the problems experienced by @highlander317. For all the noise about customer service, it is the consumer who is inconvenienced by all the shenanigans.
 
That is two very different areas of the UK because I have it in my mind that you are in the Derbyshire @EmmaL76

I wonder if Diabetes UK could investigate this situation with the manufacturer and perhaps offer guidance to people perhaps via a "sticky" as to alternative insulins to ask for and how to go about getting them, if this situation is likely to continue.

@Cherrelle DUK Is this something that you could do or pass on to an appropriate person at DUK to look into?
 
rebrascora said:
That is two very different areas of the UK because I have it in my mind that you are in the Derbyshire @EmmaL76

I wonder if Diabetes UK could investigate this situation with the manufacturer and perhaps offer guidance to people perhaps via a "sticky" as to alternative insulins to ask for and how to go about getting them, if this situation is likely to continue.

@Cherrelle DUK Is this something that you could do or pass on to an appropriate person at DUK to look into?
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Yep I’m a Derbyshire lass @rebrascora. It wasn’t an issue for me because I don’t use an awful lot and I have supplies. What would happen though if I’d run out? Would they give me a different one?
 
EmmaL76 said:
Yep I’m a Derbyshire lass @rebrascora. It wasn’t an issue for me because I don’t use an awful lot and I have supplies. What would happen though if I’d run out? Would they give me a different one?
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Yes, I thought that might be the case for you as I assumed you were using very little, but it is exactly why I think DUK should look into it and perhaps issue advice.

Semglee is Glargine, so Lantus or Abasaglar would be alternative options as they are also Glargine I believe. The problem I perceive is that most GPs might not know one basal insulin from another and might prescribe something totally different which could cause people problems, so being able to suggest an alternative or know that you have been prescribed something appropriate before you take it would be useful safeguarding.
 
EmmaL76 said:
Yep I’m a Derbyshire lass @rebrascora. It wasn’t an issue for me because I don’t use an awful lot and I have supplies. What would happen though if I’d run out? Would they give me a different one?
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You’d need to get an alternative prescription from your GP. When the apidra factory had to close years ago, I had to ring the hospital, get their advice on an alternative (humalog they suggested as closest), get them to write to GP urgently saying to prescribe me humalog, and then ask the GP to issue an urgent prescription. That all took a few days, I would have been able to pick a pen up from the hospital directly if I didn’t have a few days supplies.
 
rebrascora said:
That is two very different areas of the UK because I have it in my mind that you are in the Derbyshire @EmmaL76

I wonder if Diabetes UK could investigate this situation with the manufacturer and perhaps offer guidance to people perhaps via a "sticky" as to alternative insulins to ask for and how to go about getting them, if this situation is likely to continue.

@Cherrelle DUK Is this something that you could do or pass on to an appropriate person at DUK to look into?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tag. We're looking into this and hope to get back to you shortly.
 
Hi Guys, we've checked this with the relevant company directly and they've said that there aren't any supply issues and you should be able to get the medication as usual.

There may be short term distribution challenges that are specific to a pharmacy or the likes but the actual supply is said to be fine.

Do consult your health care professionals for alternative sources if you're struggling to get your usual medication.
 
I would just like to add… I work in Hospital (Paediatric) pharmacy and all the time we hit deficits in production of some medicines… I know it’s a different world from community pharmacy but we know we have to source some of the medicines because our patients may not be able to do without them. We have a procurement team that is dedicated to doing this and it disappoints (at the very least) that community pharmacies don’t tend to go the extra mile for their patients.
 
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