Merck Sharp and Dohme temporarily nominates Alliance as sole distributor of Sinemet (UK)
Tue, June 15, 2010
By News team PJ Online (UK)

Merck Sharp and Dohme has temporarily nominated Alliance Healthcare (Distribution) as sole distributor of Sinemet 62.5, Sinemet Plus, Sinemet CR and Half Sinemet CR tablets in order to optimise continuity of supply of these products following significant global supply issues. Sinemet CR is now out of stock and supplies of other strengths of Sinemet are limited.
MSD anticipates that the shortage, which is due to a change in the source of supply, will continue into 2011 and emphasises that pharmacists should only order these products when there is a patient need.
http://www.pjonline.com/news/merck_s...tor_of_sinemet

Comment: Yes Merck, that is profound thinking. “Only when there is a patient need.” Stop handing out Sinemet to people who don’t need it, who don’t have Parkinson’s, who are just walking down the street and have no health problems. That must be what created the shortage - doctors handing out Sinemet completely at random for no reason at all.
And oh, heads up folks! “Sinemet CR is now out of stock and supplies of other strengths of Sinemet are limited.” Aha! What started out as a CR shortage is now spreading! Are we very, very surprised?
And they are hiring Alliance “to optimise continuity of supply”. Hahahaha! There were a lot of bitter complaints about the way Merck was doing the triage - diverting drugs from one country to another… so the suggestion was they had better have the distribution done by someone with a less tarnished reputation, and to cover their behinds if the lawsuits start coming in.


Parkinson’s org. UK: Information for pharmacists and doctors June 2010
…the stock of Sinemet CR 200/50 has now run out. We advise you to contact your GP or neurologist as soon as possible to discuss the alternatives that are available.

Comment: Ah, the stock of CR has now run out. It was a shortage at first, now it has been worked on for six months, so the shortage has gone to non-existent. And here is a PD website repeating refrains that the Parkies had better figure out some alternatives instead of just whining. Invent a new drug, shoot yourself, whatever.
Go ask your neuro to provide with a list of all the other drugs that have been developed to fight Parkinson’s. A lot has changed in the 60 years since levodopa became the “Gold Standard”. For example, there is now Levadopa CR, Levdopa with a tasty touch of Carbo; levodopa in cherry-flavored chewing gum format..

There's no need to panic but the sooner you find an alternative that works for you, the better.

Comment: Yes, don’t panic yet, but heed this warning, Parkie: you had better find an alternative that works for you, even though Pharma has not found an alterative for you in half a century. And note the tone of the warning: You had better do that sooner rather than later, buddy, because Big Pharma is fed up listening to spastics and cripples whine about being given addictive drugs and then having the supply cut off by the curious co-incidence that sinemet production shut down similtaneously in different companies in different countries. Go find yourself an alternative if you don’t like it.

We've been informed by Sinemet manufacturers Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) that they are sending letters to all pharmacies to explain the current situation and outline the alternatives that are available.

Comment: letters sent to pharmacies but not to Parkies, or the PD organisations. Just exactly what are the “alternatives that are available” and if there are such alternatives, why don’t they tell us what they are?
If you have a specialist Parkinson's nurse, they may also be able to help you find an alternative to Sinemet or help you with contacting your local pharmacist or doctor.

Comment: Well now we are talking Direct Action!!! Parkies, get a specialist Parakinson’s nurse (there are millions of them) and have the nurse help you find an alternative to Sinemet! And if that does not work, have the nurse call a doctor.

There, that’s all ye know, and all ye need to know.

http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/about_u..._shortage.aspx

But Google sinemet shortage, and you will see that the number of postal box and black market websites for sinemet has increased from a few to hundreds. The drugs are pouring through the black market around the world.

Apparently everyone in the Parkinson’s Industry, from Pharma to the PD orgs., to government health departments and “corporate bio-ethicists” (who now have their own association) it seems that there is perfect contentment that no explanation has ever been provided to explain any aspect of this international fiasco.