Every day 5% of medications ordered are out of stock and 50% exceed the 4 authorized days. The National Academy of Pharmacy is sounding the alarm in the face of this phenomenon of drug stock-outs, which has been booming in recent years.
60 drugs out of stock or at risk of failure in one month
Regularly on the site ofAnsm (National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products), drug stockouts have been reported. The products concerned are “medicinal products for human use with no therapeutic alternative available for certain patients or for which the supply difficulties at the dispensary and / or at the hospital, may entail a public health risk”.
In one month, nearly sixty drugs were reported to be out of stock or at risk of being out of stock. Tofranil® 10 mg and 25 mg (imipramine), a antidepressant has been out since January 3. Rafton® 3 mg (budesonide), an attack treatment against Crohn’s disease has been unavailable since December 5 … Others have been out of service for over a year, such as Hexastat® 100mg (altretamine) indicated as a second-line treatment for ovarian cancer and small cell lung cancer or Ascabiol® (Sulfiram and Benzyl benzoate), lotion for topical application to treat scabies.
System D for patients
Sometimes alternative treatments are offered or limited stocks are imported from Europe but for some it is necessary to wait until a delivery whose date is announced … or not.
However “any interruption of treatment, even very momentary, can have serious consequences on the health of the patients” underlines the Academy. And the pharmacist “cannot modify a drug delivery because it is often difficult, if not impossible, to reach the prescriber, depending on the day and time, or the hospital services”. As a result, some patients use the D system.
“I have to take a drug based on synthetic thyroid hormones every day. But twice I was faced with out of stock. I had to run to pharmacies all over town to be able to pick up a few boxes. Usual pharmacist was also kind enough to contact a colleague in Belgium who was able to send her a box for me. My doctor suggested that I take two drugs to replace it but it was too complicated to find the right dosage. breakage stopped but the second time around I was ready and had spare stock, “Caroline, 28, remembers.
“What I regret is that we are not kept well informed. My doctor did not notify me when my usual antidepressant that I have been taking for two years was no longer available. I found myself helpless before my pharmacist when I wanted to renew my prescription. Since then I go from time to time on the ANSM site to see if there is a possible new out of stock “, says Nathalie, 42 years old.
This is why the Academy of Pharmacy is asking for a review of the current regulations and why not to be inspired by the Canadian model which “has just granted to its dispensaries, in the event of rupture, a right of substitution of the treatments to the within therapeutic classes, supervised by professional guides in order to meet the legitimate demand for patient compliance. “