I have a script for bicillin and my copay cost is 98.00. for a month. Living in Texas making a run for the border is no problem.
Just curious has anyone experienced a shortage of bicillin in Mexico or a big price jump? I heard it use to be 4 bucks a shot.
From what my pharmacist told me was that bicillin use to be cheaper and more available until a new company bought them out.
Now they have jacked up price and there is a shortage of it.
Anyone got any tips for me?
thanks
jar
Posted by David95928 (Member # 3521) on :
Jar,
What you get in Mexico is chemically identical but presented differently. It comes in vial with white powder and and a vial of water. You have to mix them. No problem. Alternately, you might get a prescription for a large vial of lidocaine and use it instead of the water. It's much more comfortable but it does leave your body dealing with and additional drug.
It's called Benzetacil 1.2 IU.
Posted by Porsche (Member # 7644) on :
I've been using the dry stuff from Mexico for about 2 months now. It is still cheap, no price jumps. There are some disadvantages in using it tho. There is more to inject...4cc's vs 2cc's with the premade liquid bicillin. It mixes into a thick chalky foamy liquid, and you have to use a larger diameter needle than the other.
I've been trying to use a 20g needle, but I have been having problems with it getting stuck, so I end up having to pull it out, put on an 18g needle and stab myself again. There is more bleeding with the 18g. The premade bicillin uses a 21g needle with only 2cc's, so it's a lot more convenient. It's a shame that the drug company has jacked the prices up on them so much and created a shortage at the same time. They would still be makeing plenty if they cut the price in half.
Posted by BBWagoner (Member # 8221) on :
My husband has been started on the bicillin shots. I called every pharmacist near by. Most were not able to get it for us. Finally we found a pharmacy that carried bicillin CR. I didnt find a pharmacist that carried the La. What is the difference in the LA, CR? Does anyone know.
So we could only get the bicillin CR and we got 10 doses that would last for 10 weeks. We only had $20.00 dollar copay.
Posted by tickedntx (Member # 5660) on :
A year ago, I contacted the manufacturer. Here is the situation, and what you can do:
The original manufacturer, Wyeth, if I remember correctly, sold the product to Monarch Pharmaceuticals. (It is marketed and will be manufactured by King Pharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Monarch, if I understand that part correctly, too.) There were, and it seems still are, problems in getting the new manufacturing facility up and running.
I am not sure if they are operating with a fixed supply from the old manufacturer until the new facility is up and running, or if the old manufacturer is still making it albeit on a limited basis. Either way, the result is the shortage.
If your pharmacy is not able to get Bicillin L-A, they are to call their distributor. The distributor probably won't have it either, but that's ok. The pharmacist is to instruct the distributor to call the manufacturer and advise them that the med is needed for an emergency (and King told me that Lyme is an emergency).
This process has worked for me and others that I have seen post here.
Posted by tickedntx (Member # 5660) on :
My understanding is that the CR won't do it for Lyme.
I don't know the chemical difference between the two meds, only that "CR" stands for "Controlled release" and that "LA" stands for "Long acting".
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
My insurance won't pay one dime for Bicillin-LA so it's costing me around $466.00 or more per box of 10.
Yes, the LA is long-acting and the CR is shorter acting mixed with lidocaine. Most Lyme patients are prescribed the LA from what I can tell. That's what my LLMD prescribed for me.
I'm one that has posted also about calling King Pharmaceuticals and coordinating between King, a local pharmacy and a distributor to get them to ship a box to a local pharmacy for you. It has taken me numerous phone calls, emails, in-person visits to a pharmacy, but I finally got one box that way.
I had heard that the shortage of Bicillin-LA is anticipated through September 2006 but who knows.
You may find that the 2.4 million units is easier to get than the 1.2 million units, but you'd have to have a nurse or compounding pharmacy split the dosage in a sterile way into two syringes. That's probably what I'll do next time because getting the 1.2 million units has become so challenging.
Even though I'm close to Mexico, I'm not going that route. I think injecting 2 mL each time is enough - I don't want to inject 4 mL by having to mix with water or lidocaine - although several people I know do it that way and say the lidocaine has the benefit of reducing the discomfort. But as one poster already said, then you are introducing yet another drug into your body, and lidocaine is not completely without risks when used for long term.