Hi everyone, my account on here got frozen, but I've just re-registered with an extra number 2 on my username!
I've been taking phosphate binders for a good ten years or so (at least) currently I'm taking Renvela (Sevelamer Carbonate).
My GP has announced that she will no longer prescribe it, she tells me that this drug may only be prescribed by hospitals, and not by GP's, and that she had previously been prescribing it "by mistake".
My local pharmacy always have it in stock, and have never queried a Renvela prescription from the GP, which, I would have assumed they would do, if it was, as she says "a hospital only drug".
When I told my consultant, he rolled his eyes, and said he had seen a couple of instances of this recently from certain GP's, and that he presumes they are doing it as a cost cutting measure. He happily wrote me a prescription to be going on with, but the clinic don't do repeat prescriptions, so for me to keep getting my phosphate binders from my renal unit will involve a monthly 25 mile round trip to hospital, clogging up their clinic to see a doctor, then another hour waiting in the hospital pharmacy, all involving time off work, and lots of hassle, instead of a five minute walk to my local pharmacy.
Anybody else having trouble getting their drugs.