Thursday, January 15, 2009

For Nova Scotia Only Concerning Those on Clozapine

Original Posting on the SSNS Blog

By Stephen Ayer

Executive Director

Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia

To the very best of my knowledge and effective today, many individuals currently taking Clozaril® (clozapine) produced by Novartis Canada Inc. will be switched to a generic version of Clozaril® called Gen-Clozapine produced by Genpharm. Again, to the very best of my knowledge, this only applies to all individuals receiving income assistance form the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services or enrolled in the Nova Scotia Family Pharmacare Program and currently taking Clozaril®. Blood monitoring will now be conducted by a program called GenCAN instead of Novartis’ CSAN® program. A patient’s prior blood work information will be transferred, and from what I understand without the individual’s permission, from the CSAN® program (Novartis) to the GenCAN program (Genpharm).

If you have any questions or concerns about the above, please feel free to contact the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia.

Also see:

Evaluation of an interchangeability switch in patients treated with clozapine: A retrospective review.

Generic clozapine: a cost-saving alternative to brand name clozapine?

Branded versus generic clozapine: bioavailability comparison and interchangeability issues.

Clinical equivalence of generic and brand-name drugs used in cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.


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