<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Thanks to all of you who responded about the anti-biotic Minocycline. I
didn't expect to get any more comments, but I got five additional ones
and will list these comments the same way I did in the first summary.

One listmate says she too has recurring problems with supplements and
meds that she was told were gluten free, and even with the drug
companies that tells her that something is gluten free, and then reacted
to it, and found when she quit taking it, she recovered.

One listmate says to check www.rxlist.com for the ingredients in the
drug that could be a source of gluten. She felt that if there is gluten
contamination in drugs from the manufacturing process, there would be
traces of other rx drugs in them, and the FDA would not tolerate it.

Another listmate has had considerable trouble with Watson Pharmacy. The
web site is www.watsonpharmacy.com, and they have a product data base
with the prescribing information sheet they send to pharmacists for one
drug. Their index page is 48 pages long. The tab under "Chemical
Formula" lists the inactive ingredients. She suggests that you read this
list very carefully to see if it has any gluten in it.

Another listmate also uses Medco Health in Las Vegas, Nevada, and found
out that Zocor had .01 to .05% wheat in the starch. She had considerable
trouble actually getting through to talk to a pharmacist, and she had to
talk to the third one before he would agree to put "Must Have Gluten
Free Meds" on all her prescriptions.

Another listmate says she is a former pharmaceutical company employee
who worked very closely with managed care accounts. She was surprised
that Medco would not label personal information as "allergic" to gluten.
This information should be listed in you personal information data, so
any new medication could be verified before being dispensed to you. She
thinks that in today's lawsuit driven world, usually pharmacies go above
and beyond when there is any potential reaction. She says you may want
to reconsider your pharmacy choice.

My personal experience with Medco is that they feel sure that they can
tell you if a certain medication is gluten free, but they feel they
cannot guarantee it as being gluten free because the suppliers of the
manufacturing company are constantly changing the binders and fillers
and they have no control over it. This appears to be an ongoing problem
with any medication, and it appears that it is going to be a continuing
problem for all celiacs. As you can see from both summaries, Minocyclin
is manufactured by three companies - Teva, Schein, and Watson. When I
had previously requested Medco Health to note that all of my medication
must be gluten free, and the pharmacist said they couldn't do that, but
thanks one of our listmates who suggested they label my personal
information as being "allergic to gluten", not I'm on their file listed
that way.

Betty Jackson Knoxville, TN

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *