From Mr M. T. Bland, MRPharmS
SIR,—I was intrigued by the reply from Dr De Wet of Boehringer (PJ, September
2, p329) in response to my letter
published on August 19 (p267)
on the intended discontinuation of Alupent and Berotec MDIs in December. Indeed,
according to the writer, if Uncle Tom Cobleigh had been a health care professional,
he would most certainly have received notification of the withdrawal.
My original information during the week commencing July 31, came from a general
practitioner who had been informed by his practice adviser. It was a member
of Dr De Wet’s own medical information staff who provided the details of
which pharmacists and doctors had been notified (as listed in my original letter)
and she specifically confirmed that community pharmacists had not been mailed.
She agreed to pass to her superiors my comments that the pharmaceutical press
should have been notified in order that those of us working in the community
were aware of the decision.
I then telephoned the member of your staff responsible for the products section
of The Journal. She checked and agreed that the PJ had not received the letter.
She promised me that she would telephone Boehringer to clarify the information
and I imagine that the details published on August 12 were as a result of that
follow-up.
I faxed my letter to you on the weekend of August 6/7 and it would have been
published the same weekend as the announcement but, I assume, was held over
for lack of space. I still await receiving a copy of the notification and, having
worked in a good number of pharmacies in July and August, have yet to note the
letter in any of them. Because of this, I am also unsure if the withdrawal affects
Atrovent.
Dr De Wet might wish to inform me which mailing address was used to send my
letter in order that I can see if his mailing details are correct. He should
certainly confirm that the pharmaceutical press receives their mailings at the
same time as other recipients and ensure that he and his staff are singing from
the same hymn sheet.
Michael Bland
Eastleigh,
Hampshire
See Dr C. S. DE WET (medical director, Boehringer Ingelheim) replies: