The Cost Of Pergolide

J

JGKJ

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 December 2006
Messages
159
Visit site
My pony was diagnosed with Cushing's at the beginning of January, and was started on Pergolide from the vets. All we were told was that it was expensive treatment, but we were willing to try anything. They charged us 98.50 for a box of 100 250mcg tablets. After joining up to H&H and doing a bit more research, i discovered that infact, the vet can give you a prescription and you can get the Pergolide from your chemist, as it is a human drug. Have just spoken to Boots, and they are doing the 100 250mcg tablets, for a shocking, wait for it........19.80! Im so shocked at the vets that they can get away with making 80 odd pound profit from you!

I would like to thank brigheyes and EllieP for taking the time to Pm and suggest all the things they suggested, otherwise id still be payin nearly 100 pounds, and none the wiser!
smile.gif


For anyone else who had Cushing's horses and is using Pergolide, shop around for the best price!
 
Have just fetched my monthly prescription of x30 1 mg tablets from the local chemist and their price is now just over £10 .They were amazed when I asked them to check the price as I didn't think they were charging me enough! Hopefully this more reasonable cost will encourage people to try the drug. Believe the price has dropped partly because the exclusive licence granted to the original manufaturer has now expired and more companies are being allowed to manufacture it. It really has been a life saver for my horse.
 
That's exactly it - anyone here buy Neurofen when Tesco's own ibuprofen is a fraction of the price? It's just finding out about the availability. HHO put me wise to the real cost, I simply passed it to J_K.

Poor Mairi has such a problem with vet competence and availability - how ironic pergolide is cheap AND non-prescription over there!
tongue.gif
 
I just think it is terrible that most vets DONT offer to give you a prescription and tell you that you can get it much better priced at a local chemist. If it wasnt for this forum we'd still be paying nearly 100 pounds monthly for Kellys Pergolide, as aposed to 19 from the chemist. When you hear Cushing's you just hear pound signs ringing, and when it comes down to it, who can realistcly afford to spend hundreds of pounds monthly on an elderly horse? Im sure there have been many cases where people have had no choice but to have their horse PTS simply because they cant afford to treat them, and vets just let this happen when there is another alternative? I think its outrageous!!!
 
I think we ought to do a monthly post headed

Pergolide is NOT expensive PM for details....

as part of a 'keep vets bills to a minimum campaign' on here!

I will repeat (at the risk of being told to shut up) HHO is not a veterinarian substitute, but the place to go after he has been with his professional advice!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think we ought to do a monthly post headed

Pergolide is NOT expensive PM for details....

as part of a 'keep vets bills to a minimum campaign' on here!

I will repeat (at the risk of being told to shut up) HHO is not a veterinarian substitute, but the place to go after he has been with his professional advice!

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent idea, ill certainly be spreading the word as much as i can!
grin.gif
 
Hi

My friend sent me this link as my horse has been taking Pergolide for 5 years, the price I'm paying has come down but EllieP please tell me where I can get 1mg pergolide for £10 for 30!

As he is on 5 a day this would be a life saver!

Thanks
 
Hi Charisl,

Your best bet would be to phone up some local chemists and ask for some quotes for the Pergolide you are after, thats what we did. You will find some chemists wont do animal precriptions, but i think Co-Op chemists do, and i got mine from Boots. Just trying phoning round, tell them its a private prescription for a horse and that you are using Pergolide at the moment, and then they will get back to you with a price.

I hope you have some success, it makes me very angry that vets are profitering from our poor horses long term illness.

Good Luck. Jenny.
 
Thanks Jenny,

I have already contacted my local chemists and unfortunately none of them seem to be able to get it that cheaply.

At the moment I'm paying £88 for 100 x 1mg tablets which is better that when I first started buying them.

I will just keep trying in the hope that prices go down. I don't really understand why some seem to be able to get it so much cheaper than others.

It would make things much easier for me as he has been on a high dose for a few years now!
 
Hi Charis
Glad we may be able to help you. I first started using pergolide for my horse several years ago when my own local vet was charging £3 a tablet for the 1mg size. Fortunately for me a couple of weeks into starting the treatment they forgot to reorder the drug and as it was a weekend and essential that the horse continued his treatment a quick search on the net found another vet able and willing to supply the urgently needed prescription. An 80 mile round trip later I was smiling broadly as when it came to pay I was amazed at the cost of just over £20 for x30 1mg tablets. I have been buying the drug from them ever since through the post until recent times when Jen Kelly posted saying she had managed to get them even cheaper from her local chemist. I went to try my local chemist again - I had tried back in 2004 but he was no cheaper than the vets - but this time he quoted £12 for 30. The price from the chemist has since dropped to just over £10. Interestingly the local vet has just dropped his charge to just below £30. The pergolide I get is one of the modern copies and is I believe made by APS . If I wanted the original pergolide it would still be £90 from the chemist. My vet assures me that the working ingredient will be the same and that the tablets should be effective no matter who makes it. I have read some reports that suggest in the USA the cheaper brands may not be so effective and that a higher dose may be required but the same report then goes on to say that there have been no reports of this in the UK. Have a go with your local chemists and if you get stuck I will check to see if my chemist will supply through the post or allow me to collect on your behalf. I think I may be right in saying that recent changes also mean that vets are not allowed to charge you for issuing a prescripton. You must treasure him very dearly to have gone to 5mg. Good Luck in your search. Regards
Ellie P
 
Thank you so much Ellie P!

I will try my local chemists again and get back to you if I am still stuck!

And yes, I do treasure him very dearly, he has always tried his heart out for me and I think he deserves for me to do the same for him if at all possible. It has been hard though.

He was diagnosed when he was only 14 and even now at 19 he is so full of life because of the tablets. His main problem was laminitis and the pergolide has kept that away.

Charisl
 
Hi - Have just called into the chemist on my way home and as long as you have an official vet's prescription then the chemist is quite happy to supply you with x 150 1mg pergolide tablets for £44.04p and are are quite happy to supply through the post. Will pm you their name and phone number just in case you would like to get on touch.
 
Oh my god. My pony was on Pergolide for three years at £1 per tablet. I'm not even going to work out how much money I could have saved. It definitely did help him though. I shall know for future if my horse ever has to have expensive medication. Thank you!
 
I know this post is really old, but I've just got a prescription from the vet for my mares 1mg pergolide for her cushings (I didn't know about it, it was actually the vet that offered it).
What chemists is everyone now using and can anyone tell me of a reliable online pharmacy that I could order from (really paranoid about ordering drugs online)
 
Really? I thought pergolide was pretty much off limits now, having been replaced by Prascend - an identical drug, but with a price tag reflecting the backs-to-the-wall position horse-owners find themselves in with the drug industry.
 
Brighteyes - you would be correct in believing that vets now have to prescribe Pracend and not a generic form of pergolide any more.

The drug company said they were doing the horse world a favour by getting the product licensed and on the veterinary market. We repeatedly told them we didn't want it because of the price tag they were going to put on it but they said that we would lose the drug altogether if they didn't because the human drug companies were stopping making it (I have no idea if this is true).

As with all drugs if there is a product licensed for use in a particular species we HAVE to use it, regardless of whether or not there is a cheaper product that we could use. Any vet who doesn't follow these rules will be up in front of the Royal College if they are found out.
 
due to the vet cascade the price of equine pergolide has increased. the cheapest on line is viovet at 89p incl the vat for a 1 mg tablet. but you need to talk to your vet for either a prescription (make sure it has a x2) on it or ask for a price match.
 
JBW said:
Brighteyes - you would be correct in believing that vets now have to prescribe Pracend and not a generic form of pergolide any more.

The drug company said they were doing the horse world a favour by getting the product licensed and on the veterinary market. We repeatedly told them we didn't want it because of the price tag they were going to put on it but they said that we would lose the drug altogether if they didn't because the human drug companies were stopping making it (I have no idea if this is true).

As with all drugs if there is a product licensed for use in a particular species we HAVE to use it, regardless of whether or not there is a cheaper product that we could use. Any vet who doesn't follow these rules will be up in front of the Royal College if they are found out.
Click to expand...


Thank you clarifying and confirming my overall impression. I have no issue with vets being absolutely bound by the law to prescribe certain drugs, only the drugs company for hiking the prices.

I wonder if the fall in revenue for this product due to owners euthanising rather than medicating (due to the expense) will exceed the income from those carrying on in spite of cost. I can't imagine obtaining the license for suitability in animals justifies the 100% price rise? I was paying £40 for 100 x 1mg tablets and these I was, initially, cutting in half. This made treating my pony very affordable indeed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top