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Buying Imatanib in UK when you are outside NHS

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Hi all

I seem to have lost/misplaced the month supply I just bought. !@£K

I fly to London on Thursday and there is no way to get more Imatanib by the time I go, so I will have to try and replace in London. I have private insurance where I pay the cost of the meds upfront and get reimbursed and I'm 100% outside the UK/NHS and UK/Private system.

I have a prescription from Switzerland for Imatanib, the doctors number is on the prescription and he is available to be called and speaks english. Any advice on how I can easily get this prescription filled? 

By easily, I mean not having to go to a GP to get a "uk" prescription (seeing a GP in London on short notice as a visitor is tricky) or having to spend hours in a&e,when I shouldnt be clogging up that system.*sigh*

I'll be going to the patient meeting in Hammersmith on Saturday 10th and I have about 10 days of supply left.

Thanks for any advice!

Eva,

Neither an A&E doctor or a GP would not be able to prescribe imatinib for you in any case. It can only be prescribed by someone with a specialism in the appropriate area - i.e. a haematologist.

I imagine your best bet would be to deal with one of the larger private hospitals in London, as they will be best equipped to manage the situation. Prof John Gribben at the London Clinic (Devonshire Place) handled private prescriptions of dasatinib for me with little fuss a few years ago. I imagine he, or another haematologist, would want to see a recent blood test (at very least a full blood count) before prescribing, but of course that it something they could do themselves there if you are not in possession of such results. I am sure a chat to your doctor in Switzerland is entirely possible.

There is an outside chance the pharmacy there would accept the Swiss prescription, but I would't count on it.

It won't come cheap, but if you have the insurance to cover it then they may be one route available to you.

David.

Thanks, I'll check him out. I'm looking at a possibility to ship stuff out from switzerland but thought its better to have a back up plan and its great to have a name.

I've been wondering about what would happen if I went to a totally new doc and asked for drugs - everything is back to normal now and even BCR/ABL is undetectable so there would not be a way to prove I'm a CML patient from tests. What would the doc do I wonder?

Be aware that there could be a VAT implication of importing medicine from Switzerland to the UK. 

If you imported £5,000 worth of imatinib you could be liable for about £1000 of VAT charges. But you must also consider that the drugs could get held up in transit for longer than you would like - costing you not only money but time.

http://www.dutycalculator.com will help you understand how much it could cost if you had it sent from Switzerland. 

David.

Hi Eva

I would suggest the following .Most private hospitals have a private GP service usually same day at a charge of about £75 minimum Why not discuss the validity of your  Swiss prescription with the GP to find a solution.If necessary you could  be referred on to a specialist  within a few days within the same private hospital who would issue a private prescription-you might be asked to have some bloods at the same time. If you are really short of time there should be a walk in private GP service on offer at Waterloo main line station foyer with no need for a prior appointment.

Do you have a record /printout of your recent bloods perhaps ?The cost of a consultation might be £200 and the bloods similar.The private prescription would be acceptable anywhere in a high street pharmacy such as Boots .However the charge might be as much as £2700 for a months supply .The pharmacy of a private hospital might charge even more as they like to make money out of it.There may be a need for the pharmacy to order in the drugs with a delay of a few days.Supermarket pharmacies might be worth a try though:Asda had a scheme where for private prescriptions they waived any additional charge above the NHS rate.The NHS rate without VAT is probably in the region of £2000 for a months supply of Glivec

P.S.Hammersmith has a section dealing with private patients-why not contact them so as to see if a solution might be found.

With best wishes

John