The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a medicine supply disruption notification for oral contraceptive tablets of various brands.
The following oral contraceptive preparations are currently out of stock.
| Product affected | Ingredients | Anticipated Resupply Date | Management Advice |
| Brevinor | Ethinylestradiol/norethisterone 35microgram/500 microgram tablets | Late October 2020 | No exact equivalent available |
| Norimin | Ethinylestradiol/norethisterone 35microgram/1mg tablets | November 2020 | No exact equivalent available |
| Synphase | Ethinylestradiol/norethisterone/ 35microgram/500microgram and 35microgram/1mg tablets |
November 2020 | Unlicensed imports of Synphase tablets have been sourced; lead times vary. |
| Yiznell | Ethinylestradiol/drospirenone 30microgram/3mg tablets | TBC | Equivalent alternatives with same composition remain available from suppliers of following brands: Dretine, Yacella, Yasmin, Ellaite and Lucette. |
| Zoely | Estradiol/nomegestrol 1.5mg/2.5mg tablets | September 2020 | No exact equivalent available |
The importers, Clinigen, Mawdsleys, and Target Healthcare have confirmed that they can source unlicensed Synphase tablets.
“There is currently no listing on dm+d for the imported product for prescribers to select using their prescribing systems so an EPS prescription for unlicensed Synphase tablets cannot be issued,” the DHSC has said.
If a prescriber wishes to prescribe an unlicensed import, an FP10 paper prescription should be issued as ‘Ethinylestradiol/norethisterone/35microgram/500microgram or 35microgram/1mg tablets (special order)‘ and endorsed by the pharmacy as a non-Part VIIIB special.
