Pharmacy?

[maxwell1200]

Should the pharmacist know if a medicine has gluten in it. I just got back from a drug store, and I was looking for a cough suppresent as well as picking up my antibiotics. I was finding that many of the cough drops had carmel color or other things that looked fishy. When I asked the pharmacist who looked like she was 2 days out of pharm school, she looked at me like I was an alien and just told me to read the box. I told her that I was reading the box but that I did not have my book with me and short of buying every one then going home and calling every company to see if the added flavors or colors or other words that I couldn't understand had gluten. She told me I had to do what I had to do. IS that normal?

[tarnalberry]

To a point. It would be nice if they knew, but they can't keep up with every last drug change. Ultimately, yes, YOU are responsible for identifying what you are consuming, but you asking was a good idea, and asking them to check on meds for you is also reasonable. (It's unreasonable to expect they can always do the work for you, though.)

Just my opinion, of course. ;-)

[lovegrov]

I do not expect the pharmacist to know, particularly in an OTC medicine. When getting prescription, I do hope the pharmacist will show me ingredients and provide an 800 number for the manufacturer. But it's my job to find out.

richard

[kabowman]

My pharmisist gave me the 800 numbers for each of my meds upon my request - I just told him sometime during the next few days and he got back with me later that day with the info.

I wish it was easier than that but it isn't...Kate

[plantime]

I filled a prescription at Wal Mart, and asked the pharmacist if it was gluten-free. She checked her cpu, and said it would not show up there as a cross-reference, so I asked her to please read the bottle. She showed me the prescription bottle, and said it does not have the ingredients on it. DUH!!! I wanted her to read the original, manufacturer's bottle, but she said she did not have time to do that. Well, she also does not have time to have me as a client! I took my business elsewhere!

[hapi2bgf]

I have had a VERY hard time finding a pharmacsit who was willing to work with me on the gluten-free status of medications. I finally found a chain pharmacy where they are willing to look items up or pass the phone numbers on to me. Maybe two weeks after having my first medication filled by the new pharmacist, she found an article that spoke to Celiacs and called me at home (I was impressed!). Basically the article stated that it is vertually impossible to tell if a medication is gluten-free or not due to labeling laws. Manufacturers are not required to list all inactive ingredients which is where the gluten would be found.

It seems that reading the label is not the safest option, better off calling the manufacturer.

Good luck!

[Rikki Tikki]

I agree, it is up to us to do the research. I live in a very small town and have asked many times if a prescription medication contains gluten and have been told they didn't know.

I had also been prescribed Fosomax and it was not on our gluten-free list at that time. The pharmacy gave me the 800 number and I got an actual scientist who didn't know what gluten was.

[cdford]

Because I have numerous long term problems triggered by an undiagnosed celiac, I am on many medicatons. If you talk with your doctor and pharmacist, they should be able to determine whether a med is gluten-free. My doctors will usually check the PDF for the name brand then either the pharmacist or I will contact the manufacturer to verify. If the product is generic and there are a number of possible sources, I just ask the pharmacy to fax me a list and I make the calls. That way I know how knowledgeable the person on the other end is. I also don't stop after getting an iffy answer, but can contact all of them and make the best choice.

The only problem you may run into is with your insurance and possible MAC pricing of generics where the insurance will only pay the pharmacy for the cheapest available version, gluten-free or not. A good conversation with the insurance company backed up by your own research should resolve the issue. If not, there is always your state's insurance commissioner. One call usually gets somebody calling you back from the insurance company with an answer.

As for OTC meds, the only one I know for certain that has a gluten free facility is Perrigo. They manufacture for Kroger, Wal-mart, and Target that I know of. There logo looks like a rounded edge rectangle with a comma hanging off the right side. It is all Kroger carries for there OTC meds. Both the others use a mix of manufacturers so I always look for the logo.

By the way, does anyone know of a generic version of Ultram (tramadol) that is gluten-free? I am having a tough time with that one and works so well for pain without being addictive.

Donna

[MySuicidalTurtle]

The times I have asked about my meds being gluten-free they have been super and tell me everything that's in it and if they don't know they make phone calls to find out.

I guess it's just up to Pharmacist. . .if they had a bad day or are in a mood.

[debmidge]

RE: Prescription meds

The ingredients cannot be changed due to FDA law.

So whatever the formula is from the start, is the formula 3 years later.

In order to change an ingredient, even the slightest one, would require additional clinical trials, etc. and another series of FDA approvals. Pharmaceutical companies would not want to go thru that for each product ingredient change - it's too expensive, time consuming and they'd lose money every time because they'd have to pull the product and explain to the FDA WHY they are changing the formulation.

The same principle holds true for generic drugs. (I know this is so because I have family members who work for both generic and non generic drug companies. )

With that said, there is no reason why a pharmacist cannot or will not go into depth about a prescription's ingredients or provide you with the drug company's phone number so you can investigate it yourself. My mom, who works at the generic company, takes these calls from pharmacists, doctors and patients all day. Not only do they ask about gluten, but sometimes vegetarians ask if there are animal products in the gelatin of their capsules. These questions are run of the mill for the drug companies. The FDA also requires the drug companies to provide a staff of people to take these calls. The pharamacists know this full well. There is no excuse for them to play stupid - even if it's just to provide you with the drug company's phone number.

As to OTC, they too are subject to FDA rules, but I am not certain if they must "jump thru hoops" to get an ingredient changed.

[lisajm]

My pharmacist at Walgreen's offered to print an entire gluten-free listing of ALL the products from the main floor.

[lovegrov]

A couple of years ago when I went to a GIG conference that featured Steve Plogsted, the pharmacist who put together the glutenfreedrugs.com web site, he said essentially the same thing debmidge said. If a prescription drug in particular is gluten-free, it will stay that way. Companies cannot change even incipient ingredients on a whim.

In addition, they must be meticulous about contamination because contamination of medications could kill people. When I hear a drug manufacturer give me the CYA about not guaranteeing stuff that comes from their suppliers, I ignore it.

richard

[jenbody2003]

There is a website that is kept by a pediatrician in Ohio?? that lists gluten-free meds, but I don't have it with me,,, you can do a google to find it.

The best bet is to stick with a small time pharmacy and do your homework...i.e. 800 numbers and etc. I keep a list in my car trunk.

Know the brands that are either clearly label or are gluten-free all together.

For example, Tylenol is totally gluten-free and Burts Bee's is clearly labeled as wheat germ oil. Almost all Publix brand items are clearly labeled. And I really like their small time feel. The pharmacists usually are friendly and know their stuff.

[jthomas88]

By the way, does anyone know of a generic version of Ultram (tramadol) that is gluten-free? I am having a tough time with that one and works so well for pain without being addictive.

This is probably way too late to do you any good, but I just found one today (Feb. 15, 2006) - by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. It has corn starch and potato starch, and no gluten.

Contact info in US:

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA

Administrative Offices

Phone: 215-591-3000

Toll free: 888 TEVA USA

[Guest nini]

Open Original Shared Link

this is an EXCELLENT resource. I use it a lot...

Donna, I've been having good luck with my generic of Ultram after having a hissy fit on the phone with the company, they called me back a week later to assure me that it was in fact gluten free and if I was having a reaction it was not to their product. it's by Purepac... now if you call you will get the usuall CYA response about how they can't guarantee and yada yada yada, but I just kept calling and kept complaining and finally had a hissy fit on the phone and they said they'd have to look into it and get back to me. I haven't had any problems with them. (knock wood!)