Abbvie Canada has reversed the decision to discontinue VIBERZI

[Annie Brohman]

If you’re over 65 are they not paid for. I know mine are but not sure if that is because of my age and my husband’s insurance. I agree with you they know we all need them some of us maybe forever and some people are on fixed income. 

[MLS]

No not over 65. Not that I can't afford them, but alot of people can't. I just don't know how people do it 

[Fay]

In Alberta the Province considers cost and effectiveness of a drug before they help with cost.  If you can believe it Viberzi did not make this list!  Obviously none of them suffer as we do!  
A bottle of 60 100 mg tablets of Viberzi is $173.20.  My husband’s insurance pays a bit and I pay $138.43 balance.

I’m considering buying from Pocketpills.com which is regulated by regions and Provincial Pharmacy Collages.  I am going to check with my doctor to see what he thinks so I can get more than a month at a time.  If our insurance runs out when my husband turns 65 it could be very costly in Alberta.

 

[TAH]

I was able to order from Save On Foods in Scona. I usually take 100 mgs but they only had 75 mgs, so I will happily take that instead! Glad to have this forum as I never would have know it was back in Canada in some locations. My regular pharmacy (Shoppers) was clueless about the situation, couldn’t order it.. not sure why? I assume all major suppliers would have know it’s back? Hoping I’ll get a large supply so I can rest easy for a bit and then 🤞🏻 it will be fully back in stock soon! What great news this is that it’s available at some capacity 😊 

[Fay]

Good for you Charlotte!  I did get my second bottle of 100 mg tabs today from my Save On.  Surprised the Scona store wouldn’t order 100’s for you.

My last bottles before I could no longer get Viberzi were 75 mg.  One 75 morning and night did not help me.  Cutting the tabs to add to a bit more than 100 was hit and miss.  Never found information whether they recommend that or not.  Think I ended up with 2 in the morning and one at night especially if I knew I was at home the next day.  Everyone reacts differently probably.  You will just have to monitor yourself before being comfortable with results.

[TAH]

It was odd that both the Scona and 109th/Jasper location both could only get 75 mgs. You would think they are being stocked from the same suppliers? I am hoping that the 75s will work ok, we’ll see. Immodium has been decent as an interim fix but definitely not as good as Viberzi where I feel stable long enough that some of my intense anxiety about leaving my house lessens and some days it’s gone completely. Hoping to get back there as this as impacted my job and other things I want to do in life but simply can’t. 

[MLS]

You can get your doctor to prescibe Lomotil. It's not very expensive and good for a backup. If you get bad diarrhea you take one and it usually clears it up quickly. But it's not preventative.  I like to take one if I know I might be in a car for a while, a plane ride  or somewhere where I know there might be limited bathroom facilities.  I think every pharmacy is different.  I used to be able to get 75 now only 100. Pays to call around I think

[JeRu]

My Shoppers Drug Mart (Ottawa ON) said it is now available to order so maybe that's all Shoppers?
I won't stop worrying until it is in my hands. I asked for a three-month supply and really hope I get it.

I have been taking one a day for years, but I think my body is starting to require two a day. Is anyone prescribed two a day? I am going to call my doctor today about it.

[Annie Brohman]

I have been taken 2 a day since I started about 2 years ago. Works for me.

[Fay]

I too have been taking 2 100 mg a day since it was prescribed.  Sometimes I can skip one dose.

 I was told that everyone draws from the same Wholesale by my Save On Pharmacist.

[Waseem]

HI Folks....I got a call this week( April 24- 2023) from my Gastro specialist saying Viberzi will no longer be produced in Canada. Are any of you folks hearing this from your Doctors or Pharmacists?

[Jeffrey Roberts]

20 minutes ago, Waseem said:

HI Folks....I got a call this week( April 24- 2023) from my Gastro specialist saying Viberzi will no longer be produced in Canada. Are any of you folks hearing this from your Doctors or Pharmacists?

I hope that isn't true because we just got back access to it after it was not available since Sept 2022. If you read through this long posting we believe that Abbvie Canada stopped importing it from Europe for the Cdn market last September. They applied to Health Canada to import the product from the US due to the number of Cdn patients demanding access to it. Health Canada granted access and the wholesaler started receiving product within the last month and distributing it to pharmacies across Canada.

[Annie Brohman]

Hopefully this isn’t true, I haven’t heard anything yet. Please tell me that it not true that it isn’t available again.

[JeRu]

On 4/3/2023 at 5:15 PM, LisaR said:

I spoke to my GP today and they had no idea that this was happening.

 

[Jeffrey Roberts]

5 hours ago, Annie Brohman said:

Hopefully this isn’t true, I haven’t heard anything yet. Please tell me that it not true that it isn’t available again.

There is no new recent update at "Drug Shortages Canada" so I am assuming that @Waseem's GI doctor was just behind on the original news.

[Annie Brohman]

Thanks Jeffrey that makes me feel better.

[Debbie McAllister]

Yes, Annie, thank you Jeff. That’s exactly what I have been  repeating all night in order to convince myself.  I’ll relax now!

[Jeffrey Roberts]

I am going to a medical conference late next week in Chicago where Abbvie will be attending. I will try to find someone from Medical Affairs to ask about the situation in Canada to offer us some more reassurance.

[Annie Brohman]

That will be awesome Jeffrey.

[JeRu]

So I thought I was going to get it from my pharmacy and I found out that the Canadian drug identification number is different if Viberzi came though the US. Since it is a US DIN #, my benefits won’t cover it.

[Jeffrey Roberts]

11 hours ago, JeRu said:

So I thought I was going to get it from my pharmacy and I found out that the Canadian drug identification number is different if Viberzi came though the US. Since it is a US DIN #, my benefits won’t cover it.

I don’t think that makes any sense. I believe only Canada uses a DIN and nothing can be dispensed in Canada without a DIN. The US does not use a “DIN”. Rather, it is a Pharmaceutical Product Identification (PhPID). Your benefit provider might not be covering it for other reasons.

[Fay]

Even though Health Canada approved the the import from the US since they the Canadian maker was bought out by a US company??

I would definitely be trying that one again.  If you get a no again from the Pharmacy, call your Insurance Provider and get an explanation.  At the very least you are owed that!  Maybe the Pharmacy input something wrong?  Unless you don’t have private insurance like Sun Life and are using what we call Blue Cross in Alberta which is Provincial coverage.  Sorry, best I can come up with.

[JeRu]

When I called my Shoppers, They told me because it is US drug, that they use a special number for the medication that is different from the DIN number. I called my benefits and provided this new number, and the result was my insurance never hearing of this number; it came up invalid. 

It’s so weird that this is happening at my drugstore when people are actually able to get it elsewhere and I know the shoppers has so much in stock.

[Jeffrey Roberts]

On 4/27/2023 at 11:13 AM, Jeffrey Roberts said:

I am going to a medical conference late next week in Chicago where Abbvie will be attending. I will try to find someone from Medical Affairs to ask about the situation in Canada to offer us some more reassurance.

I spoke to Abbvie today at the medical conference in Chicago. One person was familiar with the Canada situation and she was confident that Viberzi is here to stay in Canada. No plans to abandon it.

[Annie Brohman]

Thanks Jeffrey for all the hard work and effort you put into getting us as much information as you can about IBS. I am so grateful and thankful that Verberzi is going to be staying here in Canada 🇨🇦.