British Pharma

[steewith2ees]

Perhaps cos temaz is a controlled drug and diaz isnt

Most benzodiazepines became controlled drugs in 1985 and were were added to class C of the MODA. Where the confusion comes in is their scheduling under the Medicines Act - Most benzos fall under Schedule 4 which means that they can be treated as any POM medication. Temazepam and more recently Midazolam were added to Schedule 3 which requires special requirements for their storage (i.e they have to be locked away)

When I was a staff nurse we used to carry all of our benzodiazepines on our main drug trolley (which means that within reason, one can help themselves to a strip of the most commonly prescribed benzos, mainly diazepam, lorazepam and chlordiazopoxide without the pharmacy department complaining). If we had any patients on Temazepam however, the medicine had to go into the controlled drugs cupboard along with the usual schedule 2 drugs we carried (mainly Methadone and Oral Morphine) and required a second colleague to witness and account for their dispensation.

 

[BigG]

Thanks for clearing that up stee. . i knew for a fact temaz had to be kepf in a cd cupboard cos. When i was prescribed it they used to have fo go to the cd cupboard in the chemist fo get ir...

 

[Wilson Wilson]

Most benzodiazepines became controlled drugs in 1985 and were were added to class C of the MODA. Where the confusion comes in is their scheduling under the Medicines Act - Most benzos fall under Schedule 4 which means that they can be treated as any POM medication. Temazepam and more recently Midazolam were added to Schedule 3 which requires special requirements for their storage (i.e they have to be locked away)

When I was a staff nurse we used to carry all of our benzodiazepines on our main drug trolley (which means that within reason, one can help themselves to a strip of the most commonly prescribed benzos, mainly diazepam, lorazepam and chlordiazopoxide without the pharmacy department complaining). If we had any patients on Temazepam however, the medicine had to go into the controlled drugs cupboard along with the usual schedule 2 drugs we carried (mainly Methadone and Oral Morphine) and required a second colleague to witness and account for their dispensation.

Interestingly, oral morphine is not a controlled drug if it's in an oral solution that's 10mg/5ml or below. There is a recommendation to pharmacies (and hospitals, as you've seen) to store it in the same way as a CD for obvious reasons, so in practice it is usually stored in the same way a CD would be, but that's not a legal requirement and it's still only a schedule 5 POM.

Here's a page on OP's site confirming this: http://216.122.144.54/cgi-bin/drugcgic/DRUG?683157760+0

Which is probably why one of the dodgy pharmacies the BBC investigation visited sold the stuff over the counter. It's actually even less controlled than benzos.

If the concentration is low enough you can even put morphine in an OTC product which is why J Collis is still on sale (1mg/5ml).

It's similar to the codeine linctus situation, where codeine solutions at 15mg/5ml are OTC while stronger codeine solutions are POM.

 

[Sprout]

We still have OTC Opium tincture on the books - 16ml of actual tincture in an entire litre, 320ml of squill has to be present alongside...

 

[Wilson Wilson]

I've seen that, Gee's linctus, but considering the ratios there's not much point bothering with it. J Collis only has peppermint alongside the morphine and you get 20mg in the whole bottle if my maths is right. Not half bad for an OTC product but not even the pharmacy that sells me all the codeine linctus I want stocks it. Very difficult to actually it on the shelves anywhere and I've only seen one website stocking it too.

It's crazy to see diamorphine linctus listed on the database: http://216.122.144.54/cgi-bin/drugcgic/DRUG?665600128+0

Just think, 100 odd years ago you could get that OTC at any pharmacy.

 

[ABPI_]

Thanks for reinstating this sprout, and the replies, this article is really good and is what I suspect is happening and has answered some questions.

Okay I did a bit of digging, considering how the supply chain actually works for delivering drugs to pharmacies - or delivering any product to any shop really. The retailer isn't going directly to the manufacturer, they buy from a wholesaler. So pharmaceutical wholesalers are companies buying drugs in bulk to sell on to the pharmacies... see where I'm going with this?

Here's an article about a wholesaler directing drugs, mostly diazepam, to the black market.

Some quotes:

I think this answer's OP's question. It didn't make sense to me that pharma companies deal in this business directly, but thinking over it the volume is too high to simply come from dodgy pharmacies (although I'm sure those are still a source for some dealers). No one thinks of the wholesalers but they are in the perfect position to divert bulk drugs onto the black market.

People are obtaining licenses to buy these drugs, I cant imagine these profit driven organisations putting any background checks into people buying bulk, if they have an NHS licence then who are they to question, or really care what they are making big money?

Its not something I want to see stop, just something that has perked my interest really, when you walk into a room that is floor to ceiling full of brown boxed pharms all in their cellophane and factory tape etc it is interesting.

With the rise of these black market drugs though it is going to lead to more seizures which I suspect has got the medicines and healthcare regulatory agencys interest.

Article says

Although there is no suggestion the men arrested had tampered with the drugs, or that they were counterfeit, aathere was clear evidence they had not been stored under correct conditions.“These wholesalers had a licence to sell to doctors and pharmacies but they are not licensed to sell to any old member of the public,” said Mr

Investigations revealed the wholesaler was mainly supplying diazepam, a highly addictive pill for stress and anxiety disorders and one of the most commonly misused prescription drugs. Each pill has a street value of around £1.

Are there still people that think they are fakes then? Just curious.

 

[Wilson Wilson]

I've seen MSJs go around but only because they're very cheap compared to UK pharmas and because it still is easier to get Indian imports of pretty much any benzo that isn't diazepam than it is to get UK brands. For example you don't often see boxed blister packs of UK clonazepam doing the rounds as you do with the diazepam. MSJ clonazepam isn't too bad these days actually. I've had the 2mg's, I'd guess they're slightly underdosed at 1.5mg but they're also really cheap so it's hard to complain. Wouldn't bother with MSJ diazepam though when Actavis is right there.

 

[steewith2ees]

Interestingly, oral morphine is not a controlled drug if it's in an oral solution that's 10mg/5ml or below. There is a recommendation to pharmacies (and hospitals, as you've seen) to store it in the same way as a CD for obvious reasons, so in practice it is usually stored in the same way a CD would be, but that's not a legal requirement and it's still only a schedule 5 POM.

Here's a page on OP's site confirming this: http://216.122.144.54/cgi-bin/drugcgic/DRUG?683157760+0

Which is probably why one of the dodgy pharmacies the BBC investigation visited sold the stuff over the counter. It's actually even less controlled than benzos.

If the concentration is low enough you can even put morphine in an OTC product which is why J Collis is still on sale (1mg/5ml).

It's similar to the codeine linctus situation, where codeine solutions at 15mg/5ml are OTC while stronger codeine solutions are POM.

You learn something new every day. However, we would carry the 100mg/5ml (20mg/ml) as well from time to time (which I believe is the strongest morphine linctus product available in the UK). Surely that level of concentration would place the preparation in a higher schedule? Its a gen up question as im getting schooled to fuck here as I thought I knew the MA backwards.

EDIT: Rather than being a lazy cunt I looked. The Concentrate is Schedule 2. We still practiced all the safe custody requirements tho regardless of the strength.

 

[DS_]

A year or two ago when they first surfaced I'd generally have agreed with you. Alot of the fella's involved at a certain level being of Asian descent. But it appears not, with the boxes of DHC, oxy and other opiates aswell as the benzo's all being UK brands, it does kinda point to some sort of domestic high level pharmaceutical corruption.

I just had a decent experience with some UK brand benzos so I might retract my comment. I had some decent Teva Nitrazepam and Crescent Diazepam. Lovely stuff.