FertilityZone

Reg: Sep 7th 2009

Location: Oxford

Children: Oxford

61

Wednesday, December 2nd 2009, 5:47pm

The CHEAPEST way to get your drugs by far !

Being the tight person I am I was adamant that I was not going to buy our drugs from the IVF Clinic, instead I would shop around like many people have on here.

To start with our clinic (Oxford) were reluctant to let us get the drugs from anywhere other than the company they use, in fact I would say they were doing the hard sell. This raises the question, why, perhaps they are getting some kind of benefit from the company like a commission or free hospitality gifts. Anyway with a bit of insistence I told them that it was not for them to decide where the drugs come from, we are the people paying for them and so we will do it our way. We were really determined as due to age we needed multiple 900IU Gonal-F pens quoted at £250+.

We did the usual searching on-line and reading all the useful advice posted in these forums but then we found a friendly nurse who said the NHS hospital pharmacy will dispense private prescriptions.

We went to the Pharmacy in the main Oxford hospital at the John Radcliffe where we ended up getting Gonal-F 900IU pens at, wait for it ... £155 each !. That works out at just £12.92 per 75IU incredible.

Now the strange thing is that the NHS Pharmacy will not give you prices before they dispense the drugs, weird I know. Anyway we decided what the heck lets take the risk and order it anyway as I'd rather the NHS have our money than some money grabbing private firm and so glad we did as they were the cheapest by miles.

So in brief....

If you have a major NHS hospital near you with an in-house NHS run Pharmacy buy your drugs there and save a fortune !

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MODERATOR

What's Up?

Wednesday, December 2nd 2009, 5:50pm

That's good advice thank you!

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BraveGirl

Superstar

Posts: 4,378

Reg: Feb 15th 2008

Location: Wakefield

Children: One on the way.

63

Wednesday, December 2nd 2009, 6:23pm

great advice. I do my IVF cycle through NHS but pay private and the whole cycle including all the drugs was £2765 which I think is am amazing price.

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overthehill

Newbie

Reg: Sep 7th 2009

Location: Oxford

Children: Oxford

64

Wednesday, December 2nd 2009, 6:34pm

Some other examples of prices that we received today...

Choriogonadotropin Alfa (Ovitrelle 6,500iu) £6.61

Diclofenac (Econac Suppository 100mg) £0.25

Progesterone PhEur (Cyclogest 400mg Box 15) £12.50

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rooby

Newbie

Reg: Dec 2nd 2009

Location: LONDON

Children: O

65

Tuesday, December 8th 2009, 10:10pm

Hi
I managed to get them from abroad at a fraction of the cost Fostimon 75iu for £12. I brought enough for two cycles, but am hoping that this one works fingers crossed.
It is worth trying to source from abroad

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kaborex

Ace

Posts: 140

Reg: Sep 3rd 2009

Location: LONDON

66

Thursday, December 17th 2009, 9:41pm

Better still. We had one go on the NHS, however, you still need to pay for the drugs yourself. Our clininc, Kings College gave us a letter which basically advised our GP that we are having IVF on the NHS and the letter politely asked if the GP could convert the Private prescription into an NHS prescription. Guess what? The GP converted it and we paid something like £29 for all the drugs.

Now bear in mind not all clinics do this, however, it is worth asking your gp if this is possible before you go out and spend money on medication which you could have had on the NHS.

Please do not hesitate to ask. If you do not ask you will never receive. It is worth a try even if you do not get a letter from your clinic.

In fact our GP made a mistake on our MENOPUR, whereby we were short of some 29 bottles of 75 IU. I thought that was it we would have to pay for these and got a shock when I tried to get quotes. However I went back to the GP who insisted she got it right and refused to issue more prescritions. I then got the nurse at King's to call our GP and all was sorted. Another NHS prescrition was issued to make up for the mistake.

Again it is worth asking.

Regards
Kaborex

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Dizzybird

Star

Posts: 1,018

Reg: Jun 4th 2009

Location: Norfolk

Children: not my destiny

67

Wednesday, February 10th 2010, 11:07pm

Private prescription and what is included from the drugs company - clinic agreements?

Hello,

I just wondered if anyone has bought from a company using a private prescription and been told that all the needles required for mixing of drugs and the smaller injection needles and sharps bin are included in the price? I'm asking as I received a quote from Healthcare at home (Ferring sits under that parent company) who quoted me £330.40 for 28 vials of menopur, including the needles and the sharps bin.

They said this is the package that had been negotiated with my clinic.

Has anyone heard of this sort of agreement? It works out at £11.80 a vial, with no extra charges for the needles, so price-wise it ties in with other people's quoted costs. I am being charged a £30 admin fee though, which includes transportation. Has anyone else used Healthcare at home and seen a similar approach agreed with their clinic? Also if they have seen cost of 'administration' at £30?

Many thanks for your help!

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mistykins

Star

Posts: 2,472

Reg: Nov 26th 2009

Location: manchester/Doncaster for 12-18m

Children: none as yet! HOPING 2012 WILL BE OUR YEAR

68

Tuesday, March 2nd 2010, 7:20pm

local pct will not help us with cost of drugs!

I understand the pct/goverment are short on cash at the minute for fertility,but when they tell you not only would you have to wait 3 yrs nhs and you only get one go!.They were the ones who advised us to go private which we are,but because of lack of money for it we have gone from doing it at end of march,to april and now looks like it going to have to be may if we dont find another £1000 in the next 4 weeks!.Anyway the point is i put all this to my GP and local pct (st marys) and they are not willing to help in anyway to the cost of the drugs.How come some do there is no consistancy to it,it so frustrating!!!,my GP said no before i even sat down.Anyway just needed to vent xxxx lots of babydust

and sticky vibes to the march miracles xxx

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Kate Underwood

Ace

Posts: 169

Reg: Oct 6th 2009

Location: Cornwall

Children: Hopefully

69

Thursday, March 18th 2010, 9:58am

We got our prescription yesterday and there is an arrangement with the clinic and Calea UK. The nurse said it would include everything but haven't got a price yet. I asked if it includes disposal of the sharps bin as well as it can't go in your normal waste. She did say that we could go wherever we liked if they could better the price.

Don't know if that's any help.

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overthehill

Newbie

Reg: Sep 7th 2009

Location: Oxford

Children: Oxford

70

Friday, March 19th 2010, 3:03pm

Just an update, Now in 2010 the pharmacy in the Oxford John Radcliffe hospital will no longer dispense prescriptions from the Oxford Fertility Unit

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bou1

Newbie

Posts: 23

Reg: Dec 21st 2009

Location: sheffield

71

Saturday, April 24th 2010, 9:57am

Problems purchasing drugs......

Hiya

Has anyone experienced problems re purchasing their own drugs? I'm self-funding and due to start ICSI this summer. I read about the possibility of purchasing your own drugs and how it can save money etc so I called the hospital to ask advice and the lady was very defensive and abrupt saying 'why do you want know?" I explained about wanting to save money towards further treatment and she just said I won't be able to get it cheaper than the hospital as they get a special rate. I politely pointed out that as I am self funding I would like the opportunity to compare. I told her I would be taking 300 Menopur on short protocol etc and she then said she couldn't tell me until I'd had the treatment (by which time I will have already had to pay for my treatment) as she didn't know how many days I'd be taking it. Throughout the conversation she was generally unhelpful, bordering on rude and this left me livid even though I was very polite throughout.

i thought some more about this during the evening and I wondered what portion of the IVF package is allocated to drugs as that might be a start in trying to work out the costs. I emailed her the next day as I wanted something in writing. A few days later she emailed back saying she couldn't tell me as the drugs part is worked out to cover all drugs and all regimes. I have subsequently emailed back and asked if the drugs I take cost less than the allocated portion of the package, will i get a refund. A week later, she still hasn't answered.

I can only assume that at my hosipital you are not supposed to ask questions! Not quite sure to how to progress with this. Has anyone else had similar problems??

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Glitzy

Star

Posts: 3,006

Reg: Oct 4th 2005

Location: Scotland

Children: Max born March 07 - thanks to frozen embryo transfer, our little miracle

72

Saturday, April 24th 2010, 4:04pm

That is such poor service from your clinic. I like you am self funding and have sourced my own drugs for this cycle and my last cycle. I have to say my clinic were great and gave me a list of the maximum drugs I would need prior to my treatment starting (have had them sitting in my kitchen for 2 weeks already). I was very lucky as I went to my doctor and asked them if the would put them on prescription for me and they agreed.
So a drugs package that cost £800 at my clinic cost me £6 through my gp.
There is no reason your clinic cant give you a rough idea of what you will need - if you go over say on your menopur you could always purchase per vial through your clinic as extras. I hope you get this sorted out as they really do seem to be making it difficult for you.
Good luck
xxx

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mima08

Ace

Posts: 221

Reg: Apr 17th 2010

Location: London

73

Saturday, April 24th 2010, 4:23pm

Hi Bou1
that is truly bad of your clinic! As if things aren't stressful enough in these situations....I, too, am self-funded - part of the post-code lottery and so I tried to compare all prices. Two clinic I approached (London Women's Clinic and ARGC) were very good about giving costs for everything and although they don't guarantee the med costs, as the need may change they give a good indication. They are not cheap though - I was told average costs are around £1,200. Luckily for me, my GP was very helpful and her practice pays for the meds for the first cycle. Have you approached your GP? It is well worth trying!
Good luck
:goodluck:

mx

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bou1

Newbie

Posts: 23

Reg: Dec 21st 2009

Location: sheffield

74

Sunday, April 25th 2010, 9:34am

Hi

Thanks for your replies. The clinic I am using is supposed to be a very good one so I'm hoping it's just a problem with a stroppy administrator. I just don't know how to work around it. I have an appointment with my GP who has been great so far - offering me free weekly reflexology at the surgery to help me relax and rebalance. The nurse who does the reflexology has mentioned to my GP about her writing the prescription for me but word came back that she doesn't think she can as she will then be responsible for prescribing a drug she doesn't know much about. However, she has suggested I still go to speak with her and I'm going to bring up my conversation with the clinic to see what she suggests.

Good luck to you both too! It's good to know there are people who do listen!! xxx

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Glitzy

Star

Posts: 3,006

Reg: Oct 4th 2005

Location: Scotland

Children: Max born March 07 - thanks to frozen embryo transfer, our little miracle

75

Sunday, April 25th 2010, 1:35pm

Wow what a great gp you have! Let us know how you get on, they worst they can say is no you can only ask xxx

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Kate Underwood

Ace

Posts: 169

Reg: Oct 6th 2009

Location: Cornwall

Children: Hopefully

76

Monday, April 26th 2010, 4:11pm

Blimey: it never occurred to me to try our GP (although they are pretty pooh). We used Calea UK as they have an arrangement with our clinic and the bill was just over £700. I emailed a copy of the prescription to Calea to get a quote and they were very helpful but we had our prescription for about a month before we needed it.

xx

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Ace

Reg: Apr 27th 2010

Location: east sussex

Children: one boy (naturally concived, somehow!!!) One on the way!! yehh

77

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, 2:21pm

can i get my drugs on NHS if i'm having private treatment???

basically i have one child naturally so nhs wont fund my ICSI we need. But as we get tax credits and therefore free prescibtions on the NHS would i beable to get prescribtion from doctor for drugs???? and therefore not have to pay!!! i dout i can but its very expensive and if i could we might be able to afford more than 2 gos of ICSI in case we needed it!!!

thanks

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Gracie

MODERATOR

Posts: 5,839

Reg: Jul 15th 2007

Location: Hampshire

What's Up?

I now have double the trouble

Thanks: 27 / 1

78

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, 2:30pm

All I can say is, if you don't ask, you don't get. I know some ladies have been lucky and had drugs funded on the NHS but others not so (including me). It's worth asking the question as you just never know. Try speaking to your GP in the first instance or write a letter to your local PCT.

:goodluck:

Love Gracie

xxxxxxxxxxx

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Ace

Reg: Apr 27th 2010

Location: east sussex

Children: one boy (naturally concived, somehow!!!) One on the way!! yehh

79

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, 2:35pm

thanks

i got appointment with GP in 2weeks and he has been very helpful in everything so fingers crossed!! if not i see a letter to the PCT coming up!!

anything is worth a try

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aniandan

Ace

Posts: 491

Reg: Apr 17th 2009

Location: Midlands England

Children: After Ttc for over 5 yrs 1st Natural preg May 2002 gorgeous DS 2nd natural preg resulted in missed m/c at 12 wks Jan 2004 both with my ex fiancé.

80

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, 4:28pm

Hi Mum82.

Like Gracie, we too had no luck having our drugs funded thru NHS last yr when we went thru 2 cycles of IVF ICSI. However we are under the Solihull PCT and have found out they are 1 of the tightest and most difficult to get heelp from. Depending on where you are in England and also which Doc's your with can all have an impact on if t=you are intitled to help or not. I was also told that if your Doc's is a large clinic you stand more of chance too. Fingers crossed with your GP app, if you get no joy, give your PCT a call if you can if not send letters like you suggested.

Good luck.

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Mummy#2

Newbie

Posts: 40

Reg: Apr 14th 2010

Location: Cheshire

Children: DS aged nearly 6, my little star!

81

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, 6:27pm

Hi Mum82

I am in a similar boat to you. I have a DS nearly 6. We have been ttc # 2 for around 5 years to no avail and fall into the unexplained infertility bracket. Its hard trying to pull together £5K even though we both work we have little if any disposable income at the end of a month - could always do with a bit more but hey who couldn't!

I have a wonderful friend and have prayed every day for her to get pg. She has had 2 early m/cs and nothing happened for 4 years. I knew she was ready to do IVF so we haven't talked about it as she wanted to keep it under wraps. Lo and behold she rang me a couple of weeks ago to say that she was pg!! I screamed the place down as I was so happy, and thats a funny sensation when you are desperate for a baby yourself, but I was just so ecstatic.

Anyway, I have digressed slightly, she didn't end up having her IVF (on the NHS) but her drugs were waiting in her fridge and spare bedroom but she got a BFP. She has very kindly offered me these drugs (valued at around £1500) as the NHS don't want them back. I have approached my clinic and they have said to take a list of what she has with me - although they are not keen on drug sharing??! This would help immensely and again I may just manage to scrape 2 attempts if the first one didn't work (not that I am not being optimistic but I am being realistic).

My friend read in a women's magazine the other day that Asda are going to start doing fertility drugs at a fraction of the cost. They understand that the NHS have got stricter on number of free cycles and have refused to pay for women over a certain age if they have not registered prior to whatever age it is. I have tried to find some info on the internet but can't find so thought I may ring their Head Office to see if I can find some more details. The article quoted it would save couples on average £800 - this seems a lot as I have been quoted £750 - £1500 by the clinic for my drugs??

Anyway give the NHS a go, you never know they may help even if its only with half its a saving.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Take care xxxxx

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Eli

Ace

Posts: 314

Reg: Oct 6th 2008

Location: London

Children: 2 Girls

82

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, 6:29pm

Hi Mum82,
I did get my meds from my GP and we funded our IVF ti all depends on the GP not even on the PCT because I did ask my PCT if they would fund my drugs and they said no , but when I went to my GP ( i did not even speak to a doctor ) i just phoned the surgery and the receptionist checked for me if they do and they did, they never asked if I am on NHS or self funded.
Good luck

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Ace

Reg: Apr 27th 2010

Location: east sussex

Children: one boy (naturally concived, somehow!!!) One on the way!! yehh

83

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, 6:33pm

my clinic told me i can get drugs from asda or tescos!!!!! i nearly fell off my chair ! what will they be doing next!! but they also said that it might work out more cos you have to buy packs and the clinic give you just what u need!!??

im going to try the doc 1st then get a list from fertility clinic and shop around!! my hubby and i own aa supplement shop (only in first few yrs so not doing much in way off money yet tho!!) but lots of the body builders use the same drugs they use for fertility and they must get them somewhere???? mayb ill ask!? lol

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Eeyore

TECHNICAL ADMIN

Posts: 21,402

Reg: Sep 27th 2005

What's Up?

Manners are appreciated
and free to use

Thanks: 61 / 17

84

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, 6:37pm

Quoted from "Mummy#2"

My friend read in a women's magazine the other day that Asda are going to start doing fertility drugs at a fraction of the cost. They understand that the NHS have got stricter on number of free cycles and have refused to pay for women over a certain age if they have not registered prior to whatever age it is. I have tried to find some info on the internet but can't find so thought I may ring their Head Office to see if I can find some more details. The article quoted it would save couples on average £800 - this seems a lot as I have been quoted £750 - £1500 by the clinic for my drugs??

** ASDA TO SELL IVF DRUGS WITH £820 DISCOUNT **

Gestone prices & buying IVF drugs from Asda

These threads may help!

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lexusan

Newbie

Posts: 63

Reg: Apr 26th 2010

Location: London

85

Thursday, April 29th 2010, 1:31pm

If you dont ask you will never know. My GP did not want to but he wrote a referral letter to the PCT for me to get treatment on NHS asap. Right now am stimming, so even though he did not fundthe drugs to go privtae, it saves me the money and i have 3 gos on the NHS. Hopefully i don't have to do it 3 times.

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Ace

Reg: Apr 27th 2010

Location: east sussex

Children: one boy (naturally concived, somehow!!!) One on the way!! yehh

86

Thursday, April 29th 2010, 3:14pm

unfortunatley i wont get any treatment on NHS as i have a child already!!!! this is so unfair!!! they should at least give us one go on NHS i think!! i still cant concieve naturally so why should i not get some help from Nhs!! i pay all my taxes for it????!!!

grrrrr ok rant over sorry

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mistykins

Star

Posts: 2,472

Reg: Nov 26th 2009

Location: manchester/Doncaster for 12-18m

Children: none as yet! HOPING 2012 WILL BE OUR YEAR

87

Friday, April 30th 2010, 12:37pm

My friend and i were talking about the fact that if you have a child already you can't have a go on the nhs it is so unfair.Although i don't have any children yet i think the whole thing is a joke sometimes.

The whole postcode lottery,some people get 1 go some get 3 :thumbdown:

Some people wait 6 months on nhs waiting list were as in my area it's 2/3 yrs!! :angry:

People who already have a child and have secondary infertility not entitled to a free nhs go :hairout

Some people who are having a private cycle get drugs free or cheaper from nhs/gp and some are told an outright NO!

(as i have) :pullhair:

There is simply no consistancy with any of it,what is going on???? :headache

That's my frustration vented sorry,just :swear:

off that my private cycle has been put off from end off feb every month now will be about mid july thanks to a 2/3 yr waiting list on the nhs and having to go private with no help towards drugs from nhs or GP.6 months wasted stressed and trying to scrap every penny together to pay the £5000.I could cry at the minute am so stressed!!!! bigcloud

I hope everyone who is going through or due to go through a cycle gets a :BFP:

sending lots of babydust

to all(hope my rant hasn't dampened anyones spirits!) [zx028]

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Ace