Urgent: No more orlistat/xenical from NHS?

cmeloseit

Member
Dear all,

Went for my monthly weigh-in last week and the nurse told me orlistat has been taken off licence, which apparently means GPs can no longer prescribe it and the only way to get it now is to buy it over-the-counter (at great cost and at half the dosage, as we all know). Anyone else heard this? Can't seem to find anything online about it.
 
I had my check up 2 weeks ago and they said nothing about it then, which would surprise me. If it has been taken off license it normally means that it can't be used at all. It might mean that your surgery has decided that the benefits for them are justified for the cost of it.
I am now going hunting on NICE to see what is there
 
Back again

I have just searched through the NICE site and there is nothing on there to say that orlistats license is being revoked. The last item regarding orlistat was from october and was comenting research that some gp's are not always taking people off it if not losing weight but letting them stay on it for long periods of time with no benefits being shown.
I have also checked out the european medicines agency who actually approve and take back licences and there is nothing at all on there either so I really don't know where they have got the information from
 
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I have my Doctors weigh in and to get my next prescription on Tuesday so will find out then
 
I know some DR's in the UK don't like to prescribe it I think they are been awkward
 
Hmmm, interesting. When the nurse told me, I asked if it was just that surgery, and she said no, it was all over the UK. I might call another GP in my area tomorrow and ask them. I would have thought it would have been in the news if it had been taken off.
 
I haven't heard about this either. I was only given my first month of xenical by my doctor two weeks ago.
 
oh no i hope this isnt the case as i find im doing alot better now im taking xenica,l i dont go back to doctors til 14th march so i hope i still get my next lot of tablets but wont know til then x
 
If a prescription only medicine has its licence revoked, there is no way that it would be available over the counter. THe only thing I can think of is that your surgery has decided that, possibly due to amount of patients taking Xenical within your surgery, that they're going to have to cut something from their budget and Xenical is the chosen one. I can think of no other reason for you not being prescribed it if your already taking it and losing weight with it.
x
 
Well, I now have a prescription from my GP. I don't know what the nurse was up to, I am going to call the surgery tomorrow and make a complaint, or at least make sure they know she is giving out the wrong information. The GP said that they are no longer prescribing it for people who do not achieve the minimum weight loss required (5% of bodily weight within the first 3 months, 10% within the first 6 months). But the nurse hadn't even weighed me when she told me they weren't going to prescribe any more, and when she did, I had lost more than the required amount. :confused:

Anyway at least I have my pills back!
 
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