Expensive Colcrys replaces colchicine

DEAR DR. GOTT: You told a reader the injectable form of colchicine is no longer available but the oral tablet is. I beg to differ. I recently attempted to get a renewal of colchicine and was told by the pharmacist that it was no longer available and had been withdrawn from the market. I had to have my doctor write a script for the brand name Colcrys. My health plan, which usually pays for my generic medications, balked, and I had to pay more than $40 for the brand name Colcrys. The generic has been withdrawn from the market, according to my Walgreens pharmacist.

DEAR DR. GOTT: Oral colchicine was taken off the market because there was no way to check for objectionable materials in the formula. It was replaced with Colcrys, an FDA-approved drug, this past December.
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