What's New
Prazosin supply issuesOctober 15, 2021
PHARMAC has a provisional agreement with Arrotex NZ to supply prazosin tablets from 1st November 2021. This may leave a short gap in supply since local wholesalers estimate their supply of 2 and 5 mg tablets will be depleted by late October (1 mg tablets are already out of stock). Pharmacies may need to consider […]
Newly funded diabetes medicines: dulaglutide and empagliflozin.April 7, 2021
NZ is funding two medicines in new classes for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. See the following bulletin for key information on their use.
Estradot® and Climara® patches can be cutNovember 20, 2020
Both Estradot® and Climara® transdermal patches contain estradiol in an adhesive matrix with a release rate proportional to the surface area of the patch. E.g. the Estradot 25® patches release 25 micrograms of estradiol per day from a patch with an area of 2.5 cm2, whereas the Estradot 50® patches release 50 micrograms per day from […]
Discontinuation of terazosin tablets November 16, 2020
Terazosin tablets will no longer be available in New Zealand once current supplies are exhausted. PHARMAC notification is available here. Terazosin is an alpha-blocker approved to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and/or hypertension. For BPH, doxazosin is a suitable alternative: Doxazosin is an alpha-blocker with similar adverse effects and potential for drug interactions as terazosin. See NZF. A direct switch is reasonable. Start at approximately […]