Pharmacy on Web

This month big Brand Switch targets everybody’ favourite paracetamol tablet. Panadol now replaced by Pharmacare.

According to Pharmac, this would save approximately $20 million per year on the Pharmaceutical budget. The savings would allow them to fund new medicines.

What you need to know:

• Pharmacare paracetamol is not film coated so maybe less palatable for some people
• Pharmacare paracetamol is caplet shaped

The timeline for this change takes effective immediately from December 2008 and becomes sole supplier by 1 May 2009.

Most community pharmacies have already started using Pharmacare because of 3 reasons

1. a surgecharge will apply to Panadol from 1 January 2009 to 30 April 2009
2. our wholesaler are no longer stocking Panadol
3. The wholesaler cannot stocked Panadol because GSK is rationing what they bring in to New Zealand.

API Consumer brands is the manufacture and distributor of Pharmacare paracetamol tablets.

API have already got Sole supplier status for their paracetamol suspension under the name of Paracare.