MEDICATION ALERT: Acetazolamide

 

Epilepsy Ontario has learned there is a serious shortage of acetazolamide tablets. 

• Acetazolamide (AA Pharma) is on back-order. The manufacturer estimates that additional supply will be available on June 30.
  Drug Identification Number or DIN is 00545015
   
• Acetazolam (Valeant Canada LP) has been discontinued. 
  Drug Identification Number or DIN is 00295019 

If you take acetazolamide, we suggest that you contact your pharmacist to ask if they have any tablets in stock and if they can get any from their suppliers. If your pharmacy is running low on acetazolamide, the situation could be completely different at another pharmacy in your area. It is worthwhile calling around to a few different drug stores. 

If you cannot get your prescription refilled, contact your health care provider immediately.  

 

Do not make any changes to your treatment (i.e. skipping doses, reducing the dose, or discontinuing the drug) without consulting your health care provider.  Your physician or nurse practitioner can discuss the situation with you and develop a treatment plan to most safely manage your epilepsy. 

Acetazolamide tablets are being marketed by just one company in Canada, AA Pharma, due to decision made by other manufacturers to discontinue this product. Our understanding is that AA Pharma is experiencing difficulty getting the active pharmaceutical ingredient for this drug which has caused their product to be unavailable. Due to the estimated length of the shortage, it is expected the supply of acetazolamide in pharmacies will be affected.

 

Once the manufacturer has product available again, it usually takes several days for the drug to be transported from the manufacturer to distributors, and then from distributors out to local pharmacies. Based on the estimated resupply date provided by AA Pharma on drugshortages.ca, the next batch of acetazolamide would be expected to reach pharmacies in early to mid-July.

 

If you need any assistance or if you would like to be notified of any updates, please let us know. Call us at 905-474-9696 or toll-free 1-800-463-1119, or send an email to [email protected]. You can contact Epilepsy Ontario to discuss any concerns you have or to get more information.

 

Updates may also be available on  drugshortages.ca . 

For additional information:

*    Drug Shortage FAQ's
Link:  http://epilepsyontario.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Drug-Shortages-FAQs.pdf