PHARMACISTS in New Zealand are struggling with a short supply of fluoxetine hydrochloride, with the country's national medicines procurement agency Pharmac confirming there are issues around a change in brands from Fluox to Arrow-Fluoxetine.
Previously stocks of Fluox had been anticipated to be available until 01 Jun, at which point the product is being delisted.
However now Teva, the supplier of replacement brand Arrow-Fluoxetine, has indicated there will be limited supply throughout Feb.
The medication is generally used to manage depression and anxiety, and Kiwi pharmacists have been ordered to dispense a maximum of seven days' supply "to ensure it is distributed fairly".
Pharmac said it "appreciated that this change adds significant burden to pharmacists' workload", adding that it is "looking at ways we can support them" through the issue.
The dispensing limit, which also has a proviso allowing pharmacists to dispense more than a week's supply at their discretion in cases where it's difficult for patients to get to the pharmacy, is in place until 28 Feb, by which stage it's anticipated the supply issue will have been resolved.
Teva has indicated there will be two large shipments of the new product delivered in Feb, but it may take one to two weeks for supply to reach pharmacies once the product arrives in New Zealand.
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