I, for one, cannot wait until we start running out of medicine like they are in merry ol’ England: Chemist warning on drug shortages
Pharmacists are warning that patients are suffering because of a shortage of some medicines.
An attractive export market and quotas set by drug manufacturers are being blamed for ongoing stock problems with more than 50 branded medicines.
A third of pharmacies polled by Chemist and Druggist magazine said shortages were now directly affecting patients, with one patient ending up in hospital.
The government said it was “monitoring the situation closely”.
Well, thank goodness they are doing all that active “monitoring.” I suppose it isn’t as if anyone’s health is being compromised.
More than 150 pharmacies responded to the survey, almost 90% of whom said they were “very concerned” about problems they were having getting hold of some medicines.
And 32% said they had already seen patients suffer because of stock shortages.
Some reported patients being extremely distressed when they were not able to obtain their prescribed drugs.
Others had seen a patient’s condition deteriorate with one even being admitted to hospital.
The vast majority said they had had to ask a GP to rewrite a prescription for a different drug when they could not get hold of stock.
One pharmacist reported a patient suffering panic attacks waiting for an antidepressant called Cipralex and another had been extremely distressed while waiting for Femara, which is a drug used to treat breast cancer.
Another said a patient’s blood pressure had gone up while waiting for their medicine and that a shortage of Plavix, a clot-busting drug, led to a patient being admitted to hospital. [emphasis added]
Just another example of a government “here to help.”
I think I’ll pass.
