made it up
The Parkinson's association in Switzerland reports that they are replacing Merck sinemet with Madopar, made by Roche, as you suggest, but they also state that sinemet CR should NOT be replaced by the Controlled Release version of Madopar, something about it having different rates of absorption. Once the panic is over, it seems that Sandox will grab the Swiss market with another version of the same drug. None of them seem to be aware that some Parkies have immense difficulty switching from one drug to another, or that going cold turkey can cause severe and irreversible damage to the brain and the entire nervous system. They actually do not seem to know that when they sneer and tell us that if we have complaints we should just go and find another treatment, that it is insulting, because for the past 50 years Parkies have been hoping to do just that,
but despite spending $200 million a year on PD research, the "gold standard" remains the same drug, the sinemet or L-Dopa or Madopar, whatever name the dealer wants you to remember. There is no other treatment for us to go to.
The Doctor in Calcutta is re-insuring in that he says, there may be some vomiting and such like, but not irreversible damage; the pills are plentiful and cheap. Probably there will be enough good quality drugs to go around, and Merck can just go jump in the ocean. But there is also great nervousness - the shortages are advertised as starting next month and lasting a year or more. Some Parkies are frantically hoarding drugs. Some are afraid of what might happen. The Doctor says nothing will happen, except for Mercke losing its place in many markets. It's nothing to worry about, he says.. But he also says his sales are sky-rocketing.