Pharmacists are finding it increasingly difficult to provide Ventolin sprays to their asthma patients.
- Many pharmacies are having difficulty obtaining Ventolin sprays.
- The ANSM has placed the treatment used by asthmatics on the list of drugs under pressure.
- The Spanish production site of the GSK laboratory will come as reinforcement in order to increase the volumes placed on the market.
While almost the whole of France faces a high risk of pollen allergy, Ventoline, a spray intended for asthmatics, is increasingly difficult to find in pharmacies. The bronchodilator has just been added to the list of “high-pressure” medications.
Ventolin: several pharmacies are out of stock
THE Parisian revealed that several pharmacies in the capital have been out of stock of Ventolin for several days. And these supply difficulties, which have persisted for several months, do not only affect Paris. Some provincial pharmacies are also having difficulty obtaining the treatment for their patients.
“Ventolin is now one of the drugs that are regularly out of stock, without anyone understanding why”confided Fabrice Camaioni, pharmacist in the Ardennes and vice-president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF) to the daily.
The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) acknowledges that stocks of the essential medication for the 4 million asthmatics in France are “in tension”However, she assures that there is no shortage and that she has taken “management measures” to counter supply difficulties.
Ventolin shortage: a Spanish production site as reinforcement
Asked by BFMTVthe GSK laboratory, manufacturer of Ventolin sprays, assures that there is no “breakage or high tension” on this drug. However, the company, which has only one factory in France, plans to use its production site located in Spain “as reinforcements in order to increase the volumes placed on the market in the coming weeks.”
Ventolin is not the first treatment to experience supply difficulties. Shortages of various drugs have been occurring regularly for several months, such as amoxicillin, treatments for attention disorders, antidiabetics, etc. Moreover, the implementation of a plan to resolve recurring stock problems was one of the demands of the massive pharmacists’ strike on May 30.
