Managing drug shortages and supply disruptions is now part of the daily life of pharmacists. And causes discomfort for patients.
The phenomenon of drug out-of-stock first appeared in France in 2008. But according to the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) “the outages of supply have increased tenfold in the space of seven years”.
Regularly on the ANSM site, drug stockouts are 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”.
“Since May, 300 drugs have been out of stock on supplier listings,” explains Issam Bouha, pharmacist in Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine) at Le Parisien. The Inspra, Exforge and Rasilez are concerned. which treat hypertension, the immunosuppressant Enbrel, certain rare drugs (against Parkinson’s disease, for example) or vaccines such as Infanrix and Priorix. In reaction to this alarming situation, he warned the ANSM and put its wholesaler remains in default.
Because, for health professionals, this shortage is mainly due to an organized dysfunction, called “contingency”. The practice was set up by the laboratories. It consists of limiting deliveries to wholesalers to prevent them from exporting their drugs. Indeed, it would be more interesting for these organizations to sell their drugs in Germany or Italy with higher margins. Which causes a shortage.
To limit this situation, the health bill passed in April should establish a list of major drugs and regulate their stock management in France.
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