More than 200 medicines are currently out of stock in Ireland, according an analysis published earlier this week by pharmaceutical company.
The number of out-of-stock medicines has increased to 224 amid warnings that patients here are suffering as a result of Ireland’s lower drug manufacturer payment rates compared to other nations.
According to Azure Pharmaceuticals, which compiles the Medicine Shortages Index, manufacturers, including domestic pharmaceutical companies, receive up to four times as much payment for their products abroad as they do in Ireland.
The Health Products Regulatory Authority’s published data was examined by the Medicine Shortage Index (HPRA). According to the study, there is a “major” shortage of over-the-counter cough medicines for adults and kids in Ireland, as well as a shortage of soluble aspirin and paracetamol power.
Likewise, Penicillin and Amoxicillin, both of which are used to treat bacterial infections, are at present unavailable from any supplier. Cefalexin, commonly used to treat respiratory infections, is also unavailable.
For a variety of reasons, patients are having trouble getting the drugs on the HPRA list: some are having regulatory problems; some are having manufacturing delays; some are dealing with an unexpected surge in demand; others are having quality problems.
Commenting on the Index analysis, Sandra Gannon, Managing Director of Azure Pharmaceuticals said, “For the second month running, we are seeing the scale of medicine shortages in Ireland and resulting impact on patients and those who care for them. It is the continuation of a trend that was first evident at the end of 2019 and has been continually worsening in the period since.”
40% of the drugs that aren’t available come from a single supplier, so pharmacists can’t get a licenced substitute. The analysis noted that the average percentage of drugs in the European Union that come from a single supplier is 25%.
Alarmingly, 11 of the 200+ medicines that are currently unavailable are on the WHO’s list of “critical medicines.”
“At a time when we are desperately trying to keep people out of our hospitals and provide adequate care in the community, leaving patients without access to their vital treatments has huge knock-on implications for the current crisis in our emergency departments,” Gannon added.
“Existing high-level of sicknesses and hospital demand pressures risk being exacerbated further by the medicines shortages problems.”