Bupe Availability of generic Suboxone at the current time

[anthrax101]

Because it's the beginning of the year my insurance deductibles have reset to zero which means that all of my doctor's visits and medications are going to be quite expensive until I meet my Humana deductible (which is $500 for just the medications) and I have an appointment with my Suboxone doctor the day after tomorrow to get my monthly refill. This is only my second time going to my Suboxone doctor, and the first prescription I received was for 90 8mg/2mg name brand Suboxone film strips. Even though I'm prescribed 24mg of buprenorphine daily I have been doing just fine on 8mg cutting it into 3rds usually and taking 1/3rd of a strip every 8 hours - sometimes I will just cut it in half though and take the halves every 12 hours if I'm pressed for time or have something going on. I still have two boxes of Suboxone film strips left but I'm trying to build up a reservoir of the stuff (like a lot of people do) and I pretty much have to fill the prescription so that my doctor will see that I'm actively taking the medication albeit not the dosage that he has prescribed me. Since the retail price of Suboxone film strips is astronomically high - can't say how much due to the forum's rules - I'm interested in switching over to the generic buprenorphine/naloxone sublingual tablets. A year or maybe two ago I read a few articles about generic Suboxone being pulled off the market for one reason or another, and I have not been able to find a whole lot of information regarding people getting prescriptions filled for generic Suboxone tablets within the past few months and I have no idea if they are actually still available or not. When I go to a certain website and type in the name of the medication and my zip code I can see that at one time or another generic Suboxone tablets existed and that with the discount card they are less than half of the retail cost of the film strips which is great for me.

Are there any Suboxone patients right now that receive the generic Suboxone tablets instead of the film? I know that there are other preparations such as Zubsolv and Bunavail but after their manufacturer's coupons they still end up being just as expensive for me as the Suboxone films are after the discounts...and due to state laws my doctor cannot prescribe generic Subutex because apparently only pregnant women should be allowed to take Subutex for some dimwitted reason or another in this state. While doing the research I did see that Amneal, Actavis, Roxane, and Teva have released generic versions of Suboxone. I don't think my doctor will have a problem prescribing generic instead of the name brand films, and it would easily save me a lot of money...and I'd be willing to try whichever brand is cheapest.

 

[Dexed]

I received generic Suboxone tablets during my last few months at my local clinic. All you need to do is make sure the doctor either ticks the "allow generic versions" box on the prescription (if available) but to be sure I'd ask him to write buprenorphine/naloxone 8/2mg instead of Suboxone when writing your script. I'm in FL and the generics are typically not in stock at most pharmacies, but they will order them for you when you come to them with the prescription.

I had to switch to tablets because my insurance (basic medicaid HMO plan) stopped covering the name brand film strips. My doctor wasn't keen on writing generics until he heard that was my only option from the pharmacist. Your doctor may have a different opinion on this, just tell him your situation and hope for the best.

 

[Fire&Water]

Unlikely your Doc' is gonna check to see if you are filling a schedule 3.

 

[anthrax101]

I met with my Suboxone doctor today and he was happy to prescribe the generic tablets instead of the films, but I've ran into a catch 22 situation as of now. For some reason on my insurance plan the Suboxone name brand films are on the non-preferred formulary list but they are covered...once I hit my $500 deductible anyway, and then they drop to 35% of the total cost of the medication which is extremely reasonable. As for the generic tablets though, the aren't covered whatsoever by my insurance company. Why the hell would an insurance company cover the name brand medication but not the generic version? That's the first time I have ever heard of this happening. Anyway, because my insurance doesn't cover the generic tablets the cost of the RX doesn't count towards my deductible which screws with the next 1-2 months of buprenorphine/naloxone refills cost wise. Right now it actually costs me 2-3x the amount of money I spent on my drug of choice per month (which was methadone that I was prescribed legitimately from a pain clinic that's one step above a pill mill because of the in-house chiropractor).

It's crazy sometimes how people pay more money to get off of drugs than they do to stay on them in the first place.

 

[dirzted]

I met with my Suboxone doctor today and he was happy to prescribe the generic tablets instead of the films, but I've ran into a catch 22 situation as of now. For some reason on my insurance plan the Suboxone name brand films are on the non-preferred formulary list but they are covered...once I hit my $500 deductible anyway, and then they drop to 35% of the total cost of the medication which is extremely reasonable. As for the generic tablets though, the aren't covered whatsoever by my insurance company. Why the hell would an insurance company cover the name brand medication but not the generic version? That's the first time I have ever heard of this happening. Anyway, because my insurance doesn't cover the generic tablets the cost of the RX doesn't count towards my deductible which screws with the next 1-2 months of buprenorphine/naloxone refills cost wise. Right now it actually costs me 2-3x the amount of money I spent on my drug of choice per month (which was methadone that I was prescribed legitimately from a pain clinic that's one step above a pill mill because of the in-house chiropractor).

It's crazy sometimes how people pay more money to get off of drugs than they do to stay on them in the first place.

Hey whatsup man I've been on multiple different brands of generic subutex for about 2 years now. They are DEFINITELY a better option for those withOUT insurance because of their cost (which is literally 3x less than the strips in my area). But for some reason insurance brands typically only cover the strips... (i think it may just be a perpetuation of the myth that naloxone deters abuse) so you're really fucked when it comes to that because either way it costs about the same.

Other than that the only other info i can give you is that (for me at least) all different brands and types of generic subs cost the exact same... so it probably won't matter which one you get.

Just putting out another possible option for a way to get cheaper bupe, good luck regardless!

 

[speedballs_over]

It's crazy sometimes how people pay more money to get off of drugs than they do to stay on them in the first place.

Yeah, I think that's another excellent example of why treatment so often fails when it shouldn't esp. with MAT progrsms, bupe and other OTPs that medicate and don't rapid taper/CT their long term-user patients.

drugs = black hole of money

 

[anthrax101]

^ Indeed!

I picked up the first 30 tablets a few minutes ago and I ended up with the AN415 Amneal tabs which I'm quite happy about. I must be weird because I actually kinda enjoy the bitter orange/chemical taste of the Suboxone name brand films and I've never had the name brand tablets since they aren't manufactured any more. I expect these to taste just like the films only with a much stronger orange/chemical taste and they should take a little bit more time to dissolve under the tongue than the films do (my films are usually dissolved completely in under 10 minutes but I keep the saliva in my mouth for another 10 minutes and every so often swish the saliva around my entire mouth) but I'm okay with the longer dissolve times since it saves money.

 

[sekio]

we don't discuss supply of drugs, you should talk with your pharmacist