Patients at risk from UK drug shortages

Generics and biosimilars Initiative

Building trust in cost-effective treatments

Sign up
eng / esp

Patients at risk from UK drug shortages

Home/Pharma News | Posted 12/09/2014 0 Post your comment

Ongoing drug shortages in the UK have led to 80% of general practitioners (GPs) surveyed reporting that their workloads have increased in the last year. A third of doctors say their patients have been harmed or been negatively affected if a second choice has had to be prescribed.

According to a GP media, which carried out the survey of 600 GPs, basic medicines needed every day in the National Health Service (NHS) have become difficult to obtain, with GPs saying the problems are getting worse.

Although recent high-profile cases, including the shortage of hypertension drug valsartan, and problems with the supply of the shingles vaccine Zostavax, are now resolved, GP leaders say that the current situation is unacceptable. They are demanding regular updates of local shortages for all GPs.

There were 18 generic drug products listed in August 2014 by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee as having received price concessions by the Department of Health, and therefore being in short supply in the UK.

The findings echo those of a recent statement released by the country’s All-Party Pharmacy Group (APPG). Members of Parliament have previously warned that growing problems in the supply of generics, which account for 75% of prescriptions, could be ‘disastrous’ for patients [1].

‘This is a stress we can do without and a potential patient safety issue with increased risk of prescribing mistakes,’ one GP said.

The Department of Health’s system of rationing in response to these drug shortages is supposed to mean that the right numbers of drugs are held in stock. However, the system often means particular parts of the country run low on stocks because they are not allowed to have more than their quota of medicines.

A Department of Health spokesperson commenting on the matter said ‘We are actively involved in a number of pieces of work to tackle these problems both at a UK level and at a European and global level.’

Related Articles
Patient care threatened by cancer drug shortages

Management of drugs shortages

Reference
1. GaBI Online - Generics and Biosimilars Initiative. Generics shortages continue to rise in the UK [www.gabionline.net]. Mol, Belgium: Pro Pharma Communications International; [cited 2014 Sep 12] Available from: www.gabionline.net/Pharma-News/Generics-shortages-continue-to-rise-in-the-UK

Permission granted to reproduce for personal and non-commercial use only. All other reproduction, copy or reprinting of all or part of any ‘Content’ found on this website is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the publisher. Contact the publisher to obtain permission before redistributing.

Source: GPonline, The Telegraph