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IMMITICIDE Shortage Alert!

11 Comments | Add Yours
By Exceptional Veterinary Team
December 15, 2009

Due to "unforseen technical difficulties" Merial announced that they are experiencing production shortages of Immiticide (melarsomine dihydrochloride). Immiticide, currently the only drug available to treat adult heartworms, will not be back in production until April of 2010. Veterinarians and shelters can no longer order the amounts they need through their representative, but instead are being asked to call the Merial Customer Care line at 888.637.4251. In order to receive the drug, Merial technicians now have to approve each and every sale of Immiticide and will screen patient medical information to determine which animals will receive the drug. Merial is currently approving Immiticide only for emergency patients and those with the greatest need for the drug on a case-by-case basis.

The Richmond SPCA reports about their experience with the Merial Customer Care line in a recent blog entry. They were recently denied the drug for one of their shelter dogs.

"It became apparent to me once again last week how the odds can be so unfairly stacked against shelter animals..The magnitude of this dilemma hit home when I called about a dog we just transferred into our care named 'Fred.' Fred is a 2-year-old shepherd mix who is positive for heartworms...When I called Merial to see what I needed to do in order to purchase the amount of Immiticide that Fred would need...I was told that he was not a candidate for the current supply. In other words, Fred was not a critical enough case to warrant selling the Richmond SPCA the drug for his treatment."

Many shelters are now at a loss of how to handle the current situation as they rarely allow clients to adopt out dogs with heartworms and don't necessarily have enough space to kennel the heartworm-positive dogs for four months, while they wait for supplies of Immiticide. This may result in additional euthanasias for shelter animals who are being housed in shelters without a "no-kill" policy.

Download Merial's official "Dear Doctor" letter by clicking on the PDF icon at the top of the page.

11 comments so far...

Immitcide Shortage

Following the new guidelines from the American Heartworm Society as presented at the NAVC 2010 Orlando ... as soon as a class 1 or class 2 heartworm-positive dog is diagnosed, it is best to place the dog under strict confinement then administer ivermectin-based heartworm preventative monthly for 3 months and doxycycline (10mg/kg PO BID) for 30 days prior to administration of Immiticide. That 3 month delay will get us all into April when the product becomes more readily available.

As for shelters, finding available fosters to cover for those 3 months of confinement and treatment is my only suggestion. And, I know that can be a challenging, if not an impossible task.

Let's work together to reduce the population harboring heartworms and treat those that are infected based on severity at time of presentation.

Sat, 02/27/2010 - 15:37 — Guest

THIS "Owner" did ....

THIS "Owner" ... meaning ME ... did have my dog on preventative monthly and did not miss one single dose nor administer a dose late. Yet my dog has been diagnosed as heartworm positive and denied the medication from Merial because they feel his case is not to the level of severity to warrant their medication. You see, my dog was adopted from a rescue group and already infected with heartworms. The shelter that picked him up as a stray ran heartworm tests ... negative. The rescue group that took him in from the shelter also ran heartworm tests ... negative. I adopted this beautiful animal and had him into a vet within a week. Heartworm tests done ... negative.

Fast forward a year ... Same dog goes in for yearly exam including heartworm testing. This time test comes back positive. A second test is run ... also positive. A third, more definitive test is run and x-rays taken ... definitely positive. Canine cardiologist determined that said dog was heartworm infected BEFORE he was ever adopted by THIS "Owner".

Therefore my dear guest that is under the assumption that ALL owners of heartworm positive dogs have been irresponsible, you need to remember exactly what happens when you ASSUME things.

Sun, 02/21/2010 - 09:50 — Guest

get ready

I think this is a trial run for how our own healthcare may be handled if the government gets control. Get ready for someone in a central office to determine whether your case is worthy of treatment.

Fri, 02/19/2010 - 12:34 — Guest

Maybe those "Owners" should

Maybe those "Owners" should palce their dogs on preventatives in the first place....a class action lawsuit isn't the answer to EVERYTHING. Too bad we can't have a class action lawsuit to eliminate stupid people.

Wed, 02/10/2010 - 01:31 — Guest

My dog has heartworm too.....just keep them on Preventative meds

If you keep the dogs on preventative, they can last the 3 months until the immiticide is back again. As for who knows best? How about the people that make the medicine??? Veterinarians are on staff at Merial who can determine who is in dire need...not just 'technicians'. And they do determine who needs it the most... I, for one, am glad that someone is doing triage on these cases.... so many dogs are in terrible need with stage 3 and should not be denied for a case that has not progressed past stage 1. Many dogs with heartworm can remain comfortable until treamtent as long as you continue Preventatives...so you can control the growth a bit....
Remember that they will need to be treated eventually.....but give the sicker stage 3 dogs a chance so they don't die......
As far as the shelters.....help them out with foster homes for HW positive dogs......It's time to be selfless, not selfish......

Fri, 02/05/2010 - 19:04 — Guest

re: Immiticide shortage

To all you whiners with "not sick enough" dogs. If Merial didn't base who they ship to on severity (which is I'm sure is done by the vets on their staff), then you have a first-come-first-serve situation in which case it runs out REAL quick and then NOBODY gets any. Even leaving it up to the vets to do the screening would have the same result because all the vets (myself included) would do whatever it took to get a hold of as much as they can. You need to realize also that a class 1 case is NOT an urgent situation no matter what anyone has told you. Many of them never get sick because they only have a small number of the worms (like less than 10) or at least it progresses slowly. As long as they are on preventative they will not get any additional worms. Shelters need to go ahead and adopt out these dogs as space demands and let the private sector worry about how they're gonna get treated. Why euthanize them if they have a better chance of getting treatment on the other side? Duh! A little common sense needed here!

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 17:26 — Guest

Immiticide Shortage

What makes the drug company the expert? Why is it there choice on who lives and who dies. If a vet is asking for the drug the doctor should be the one who decides not a drug company. I think the drug company should be sued for every dog that they deny treatment. Maybe a class action suit should be done on behalf of these animals and their owners.

Sun, 01/24/2010 - 14:32 — Guest

not sick enough

Our 1 1/2 yr. old dog was diagnosed with heartworm in November. He too is not a shelter dog, was on heart worm preventive, and also is not sick enough.

First we heard not until February. Then not until March for treatment. Now April.

Based on a scale of 1 - 3, he is barely a 1 so who knows when he will get treated or how sick he will get in the meantime. :(

Mon, 01/04/2010 - 17:31 — Guest

not just shelter dogs

My 4 yr. old dog has always been on preventive and yet has contacted heartworm - the preventive manufacturer will cover the costs, but I guess I'm not important enough either. I was told that I had to wait until she was actively dying before they would send the medicine to treat her, and yet everything I read tells me that the sooner I treat her the better the outcome. I called and was told sorry, they decide who gets it and how much and of course, they aren't responsible if she dies first.

Mon, 01/04/2010 - 16:12 — Guest

Patient screening

How are technicians qualified to "screen" patients other than to collect and relay medical information to the veterinarian? More importantly, How and by whom is the screening criteria determined? Has there been any communication with the American Heartworm Society on this matter? Precisely what were the production problems? Does a drug manufacturer have the license to "prescibe" their drug in that they determine who should the the drug be prescribed to and under what circumstance?

Sun, 12/20/2009 - 19:55 — Guest

Immiticide Shortage

I work at a medium sized shelter, and hope this shortage doesn't cause increased euthanasias of positive dogs. Currently, we do adopt out HW positive dogs, with a scheduled time to return for treatment and then they go back out to the owner for aftercare.

Fri, 12/18/2009 - 09:18 — Guest

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