Drug shortage: is it as catastrophic as it seems?

In recent years, some terms such as PCR or herd immunityhave become an integral part of our vocabulary. It is no less, because they have become an integral part of our lives, for better or for worse. The same goes for other words, such as “deficitor”. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian war Here are some of the reasons why we are facing a shortage of products as diverse as electronic chips or sunflower oil. But without a doubt, one of the most troubling shortcomings is the lack of drugsTherefore, lately we have been a little worried about this or that information that comes to us through the media.

Yes, some fairly commonly used drugs seem to be starting to work. be in short supply in pharmacies. And this can lead to a state of mass hysteria and excessive accumulation, which will only aggravate the situation. Therefore, it is important to understand what exactly this deficiency consists of.

Most of all because this isn’t actually the first time this has happened, and fortunately there are very specific plans in place to prevent serious exposure to patients. Always is Plan b and so far it works great.

What is a drug shortage?

Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) describes a drug shortage as “a situation in which the availability of a drug in a pharmacy is less than the need”.

However, it must be borne in mind that speaking of a drug deficiency does not mean that it is active start, in all his presentations, disappeared from pharmacies. It’s not that catastrophic. Typically, this means that the presentation is missing in some places, but there are other options.

For example, at the time of this writing, the AEMPS list of scarce drugs included 1 gram of Eferalgan in 8 effervescent tablets. However, its active ingredient, which is paracetamol, can be purchased from pharmacies. in many other formats and brands.

Why are some medicines missing?

Based on the previous definition, we speak of a shortage of medicines when demand exceeds supply. As for the reasons, as he explained hypertext hospital pharmacist Alfredo Montero, may be of exclusive or more common origin. “With the exception of special cases or when demand spikes very quickly, as in a pandemic such as COVID-19, most of the time the shortage is due to reduced supply, almost always due to production problems or raw material distribution process“.

On the other hand, one might think that self-medication may be relevant to these situations. However, due to restrictions on the distribution of drugs, this rarely happens. “In Spain, this should not affect, since only medicines are considered VET (promotional pharmaceutical specialty),” says Montero. “There must be some very special situation for us to go to pharmacies en masse to get some EFP, we also have co-op stocks and this demand exceeds the production capacity of manufacturing labs.” This does not mean that there is no shortage of VET, but it is not the most common occurrence.

What should pharmacies do?

According to AEMPS, drug out-of-stock notices They have grown steadily in recent years. Only the figures for the first half of 2019 exceed those for the whole of 2017, and they continue to grow. But, fortunately, it is believed that over 80% of these notifications they did not affect the normal supply of medicines. And the fact is that in these cases there is a whole protocol that needs to be followed so that patients perceive the situation as little as possible.

“The action of a community pharmacist is to try to find a cure in cooperatives, other pharmacies or even talking to representatives of manufacturing laboratories. From hospitals, among other things, we also have the opportunity to import foreign medicines, if necessary. Each province has a Ministry of Health Pharmacy Ordering Service with the ability to dispense this type of medicine to patients who need it.”

Alfredo Montero, hospital pharmacist

As a result, the reported shortage was corrected before it became serious. However, in these cases, it is very important to avoid misinformation in order to Do not panic. And it’s not just pharmacies that come into play.

Beware of drug shortage hoaxes

If during the initial containment of the COVID-19 pandemic we ran out of toilet paper in all the supermarkets, what couldn’t we do with drugs if the panic spread?

Luckily, it wouldn’t be that easy for all of the above. However, if the media spread fearthe reactions can be terrible. Recently, a well-known TV channel aired a report about a shortage of medicines with a misleading headline about lack of insulin. However, the report mentions Ozempic. This is a drug whose active ingredient is semaglutideconnection that helps lower blood sugar. It is true that this is a drug that many patients with type 2 diabetes resort to. And it is true that there is a certain shortage. But this only obeys some of the indications of the remedy and in no way poses a danger to diabetics.

Does that mean it can never be lack of insulin? Not necessarily, but it will be difficult. We must remember that you always have the option of ordering overseas and at this point, given the importance of insulin, it would be extremely difficult to run out of options. Alfredo Montero also explains this. “For essential drugs like insulin, shortages can only occur if there is some major global problem, in which case there are different labs, different presentations and different types of insulin to treat patients appropriately.”

Thus, while there is a need to be aware of drug shortages, there are many solutions to deal with them. Those who should take care of him are always on the alert. And they do it so well that we often do not even notice the absence of drugs.