Drug shortages escalated significantly between 2021 and 2024, with 323 drugs in shortage in the first three months of 2024, marking the most severe situation since tracking began in 2001.

In the United States, shortages worsened since 2021, with 323 drugs in severe shortage in early 2024 and 233 active shortages as of April 2024.

Nearly all U.S. hospital pharmacists report shortages, with 309 drugs in shortage near the all‑time high of 320.

More than half of treatment shortages last over two years and the average shortage affects at least half a million patients, while some U.S. shortages have persisted up to 15 years.

Shortages rose across Europe as well, with France signaling 4,925 drug shortages in 2023 (up from 2,160 in 2021 and 3,761 in 2022) and 44% of people in 2024 facing a drug shortage.

Estonia recorded 183 shortages in 2021, 359 in 2022, and 450 in 2023, reflecting a sharp increase driven by production problems, raw material gaps, and surges in demand.

Saudi Arabia received 107,246 medication shortage reports in Q1 2021—about 50 per hour—and resolved 98.95% through an operations room mechanism.

Three‑quarters of EU countries reported worsening shortages in 2022, with reliance on imported ingredients from China and India and supply chain disruptions compounding the problem.

WHO warned of a global shortage of up to 2 billion injection units by 2022 as COVID‑19 vaccination doubled injection demand, raising risks for routine immunization.

Canada experienced shortages of pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen amid 20–40% demand surges, prompting advisories, production increases, and compounding as stopgaps.

Ireland faced a paracetamol shortage in 2023 due to Covid‑19 and flu waves, but alternative strengths and brands were available to maintain continuity.

China reported resolving 2023 shortage reports by improving shortage classification, monitoring production supply, and enabling temporary import of urgent drugs.

The most affected categories include chemotherapy agents, with 32 chemotherapy drugs currently in shortage and oncologists reporting severe constraints.

U.S. cancer drug shortages have led to FDA‑permitted imports of cisplatin while over a dozen cancer drugs remained scarce, and 93% of centers reported carboplatin shortages.

Central nervous system stimulants, including ADHD medications such as Adderall, have faced protracted shortages since October 2022.

Diabetes drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro are in shortage in the U.S., with Mounjaro constrained by unprecedented demand.

Antibiotics and anesthetics have also been in short supply, affecting critical care and routine treatments.

Shortages of sterile injectable generic drugs are particularly common due to manufacturing complexity and quality issues.

Amoxicillin oral products have been in short supply among multiple U.S. manufacturers, though alternative antibiotics can sometimes be used.

Steroids and hormonal therapies have been affected, further broadening the clinical impact.

Core drivers include manufacturing and quality failures, supply chain gaps, and downtime across opaque and fragmented supply networks.

Economic pressures, limited redundancy, and lack of transparency further hinder timely responses and sustained supply.

FDA inspections and plant shutdowns can abruptly reduce capacity and trigger cascading shortages.

High demand spikes—for example GLP‑1 diabetes and weight‑management drugs—have outstripped production capacity.

Global dependencies for active ingredients and finished products, with 80–90% of some products made abroad and heavy reliance on India and China, magnify vulnerability.

DEA quota policies have contributed to shortages of opioids and ADHD medications, with distributors also restricting shipments and some states imposing taxes that raise costs.

Geopolitical and macro shocks—including the pandemic, Russia‑Ukraine war, sanctions, and logistics disruptions—have constrained raw materials and delayed procurement.

Budgetary constraints, debts to suppliers, and delayed payments have exacerbated shortages in some health systems.

Failures in assessing regional needs, procurement delays, and fixed‑price disincentives further reduced availability in certain markets.

Health systems have deployed multiple coping strategies, including switching patients to therapeutic alternatives in the same class, rearranging regimens, and prioritizing by disease aggressiveness.

The FDA coordinated temporary imports of chemotherapy agents like cisplatin and hospitals substituted alternate drugs to continue treatment.

Manufacturers have expanded capacity where possible, with Pfizer increasing production by 40% for some cancer drugs to address shortfalls.

U.S. policy responses include proposed federal funding of $3.26–5.11 billion and expert guidance from ASHP, though shortage tracking still relies heavily on manufacturer communications.

The EU introduced a solidarity mechanism, early‑warning systems, shelf‑life extensions, fast‑tracked approvals, and joint procurement from 2024, alongside a new Critical Medicines Alliance.

Health Canada worked with manufacturers, issued public advisories, prioritized pediatric hospital replenishment, and supported importation and compounding to bridge gaps.

Taiwan set up a Drug Supply Notification Processing Center, established single‑window and pricing mechanisms, arranged production lines, and launched a Drug Supply Information Platform.

Egypt strengthened oversight of distributors, increased imports of vital medicines, and operates a hotline for availability and alternatives.

Despite mitigation, one in three U.S. health systems report delaying, canceling, or rationing care due to shortages.

To check whether your parent’s specific medications are affected now or expected to be, consult real‑time shortage databases maintained by the American Society of Health‑System Pharmacists and the FDA.

The FDA posts shortage and mitigation updates, and ASHP provides detailed drug‑by‑drug information for clinicians and patients.

For Europe, national regulators provide live lists, such as Italy’s AIFA page cataloging deficient drugs and available equivalents.

France’s medicines regulator publicly signals shortages and the EU is building an early‑warning network to improve transparency.

In Taiwan, the Drug Supply Information Platform and hotline offer availability data and recommended alternatives.

In Egypt, the Pharmaceutical Authority’s hotline can confirm availability and advise on substitutions.

For Canada, Health Canada advisories and local pharmacy guidance can help identify current gaps and safe alternatives.

Work with your parent’s clinicians and pharmacist to line up clinically appropriate alternatives in advance of any shortage.

When substitutions are needed, healthcare teams typically use drugs in the same therapeutic class or with the same active substance, concentration, and administration route, with doctor and pharmacist confirmation.

Alternative strengths and brands of the same drug may preserve continuity of care when exact products are unavailable.

Compounding pharmacies can prepare customized formulations during pediatric analgesic shortages or similar access constraints.

For mental‑health medication transitions, clinicians can use decision‑support tools like Rx Transitions for tapering and cross‑titration planning.

Any switch should include monitoring for interactions, dose adjustments, and side effects, and should not be made without clinician oversight.

Create and maintain an up‑to‑date medication list including diagnoses, allergies, all prescriptions and supplements, doses, frequencies, and purposes, and bring it to every medical or pharmacy visit.

Track on‑hand quantities at home to avoid both overstocking and gaps before refills.

Monitor official shortage lists regularly and speak with your pharmacist about early refills where appropriate, noting that prices can rise during shortages.

Pharmacists and clinicians can advise on safe therapeutic alternatives and local availability, and many systems publish shortage updates and mitigation steps.

If a substitution is required, confirm equivalence with your clinician, follow prescribed dosing and timing precisely, and monitor your parent’s response.

Regular medication reviews with clinicians help detect interactions, simplify regimens, and reduce errors during transitions.

Key risks to prepare for include prolonged shortages of chemotherapy agents, ADHD stimulants, sterile injectables, key antibiotics, and diabetes drugs driven by quality failures, supply chain fragility, and demand spikes.

Because shortages frequently extend beyond a year and can affect critical therapies, planning alternatives and staying connected to credible shortage trackers is essential for continuity of care.

Drug shortages escalated significantly between 2021 and 2024, with 323 drugs in shortage in the first three months of 2024, marking the most severe situation since tracking began in 2001.

Title:

Content: General Supervision
Elham Aboul Fath
Editor-in-Chief
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General Supervision
Elham Aboul Fath
Editor-in-Chief
Thank you for your patience.
An Unexpected Catastrophe in the World ’ s Largest Country: The Complete Story of U.S. Drug Shortages
The deficit is at a record level.
According to data from the American Society of Health System Pharmacists and the University of Utah Drug Information Service, organizations began tracking drug shortages for the first time in 2001. Steady since 2021 – now reaching a record high of 323 drugs in the first three months of 2024.
Paul Abramowitz, CEO of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, wrote in a blog post on Thursday: “It ’ s been a long time to end drug shortages, ” and wrote:“ All drug classes are vulnerable to shortages, some of the most worrisome shortages include sterile injectable generic drugs, including cancer chemotherapy drugs and emergency drugs stored in hospital vans and procedural areas. It is dangerous for doctors and patients. ”
In addition to the 32 chemotherapy drugs that are deficient, the five categories of drugs with the greatest deficiency include central nervous system stimulants, antimicrobials, hormonal agents, and intravenous fluids. [1] The Drug Deficiency Database maintained by the American Society of Health System Pharmacists and the University of Utah is based on voluntary reports from practitioners, patients, and others that have been confirmed by manufacturers. The U.S. drug is in short supply, because it captures broader effects on service providers and patients.
The crisis has lasted a year and a half.
More than half of the treatment shortages have lasted for more than two years, according to an analysis by health consultancy IQVIA, and the average shortage affects at least half a million patients, many of them elderly, according to the US Office of Health and Human Services under the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, which shared its analysis with Congress in May.
Growing demand can play a role in drug shortages, as with the recent shortage of weight-loss drugs, but often manufacturing and quality problems, such as supply chain gaps and downtime, are the root cause. And varied.
But the American Society of Health System Pharmacists has “serious concerns ” about parts of this proposal, especially financial sanctions imposed on hospitals that lack the resources to comply with the recommendations, Abramowitz wrote:“ We all know that managing shortages is not enough and is not a sustainable solution to the worsening crisis, and there is still a lot of work to be done at the federal level to fix the root causes of drug shortages. ”
Why Shortage Occurs
Shortages can be caused by high demand, as with the recent shortage of weight-loss drugs, but this is not usually the main problem.
The FDA also blames manufacturing and quality problems, supply chain gaps, and downtime, and Dr. Emily Tucker, a drug shortage expert and an assistant professor of industrial engineering at Clemson University, says that when there is an indication of shortages, large health systems often also proactively place large orders, adding to the system ’ s stress.
“I don ’ t blame anyone.
“When I talk to all the stakeholders – whether it ’ s wholesalers, manufacturers, or the government – everyone wants this problem to end, ” she said.
Lack of transparency
Dr. Julie Grallo, chief medical officer and executive vice president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, told the House Committee earlier that the shortage puts providers in a terrible position: “The drug shortage crisis is forcing providers to make impossible choices, and it is also hindering the development of new drugs. Health drugs are purchased only on a price basis, and manufacturers do not have to disclose the source of their acquisition of the ingredients.
The shortage of this generic chemical drug came due to the closure of one factory in India that manufactures the active ingredient after a surprise FDA inspection found “significant quality issues, ” says Jarallo:“ We didn ’ t know, and there was no transparency regarding the company ’ s supply of the majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients to all manufacturers across the board.
Knowing this in advance, we could have responded much faster, ” Dr. Steven Schundlemeyer, director of the PRIME Institute of the University of Minnesota School of Pharmacy, which focuses on economic and management issues, told the committee that as with defense contractors in the United States, New Zealand requires manufacturers to disclose their suppliers, and that information is required.
Easily accessible in the database.
Related Topics

In the United States, shortages worsened since 2021, with 323 drugs in severe shortage in early 2024 and 233 active shortages as of April 2024.

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Content: Meitu
The first quarter of the United States serious drug shortage 323 drugs urgent cancer patients also have to be diverted and rationed!
CHU HENG NETWORK NEWS CENTER 2024-04-16 10: 42
According to the latest data from the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Utah Center for Drug Information Services, a total of 323 drugs in the United States were in severe shortages in the first quarter of this year, surpassing the record of 320 in 2014.
Among the drugs affected are the widely used diabetes drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro, the allergy treatment drug adrenaline, the common antibiotic amoxicillin for children, chemotherapy drugs and injections commonly used in hospitals in intensive care.
ASHP CEO Paul Abramowitz said in a statement that almost all categories of drugs are facing shortages, with non-patented sterile injectable drugs, including cancer chemotherapy drugs, and emergency drugs stored in hospital emergency vans and operating areas, the shortage of such drugs is the most worrying.
According to the American Cancer Society, chemotherapy is one of the top five drugs most affected by the shortage, which threatens to have a devastating impact on patients, and some hospitals and clinics say doctors have had to divert patients to ration their medications because of a shortage of some chemotherapy drugs.
In addition, ASHP noted that the continued nationwide shortage of ADHD drugs is “a problem for clinicians and patients. ”
The shortage of popular drugs is even more acute, with Mounjaro, the diabetes drug known as the “slimming pill ”, already in dire straits.
In response, Lilly said that the “unprecedented surge in demand ” for Mounjaro and its similar drug Zepbound has led to a shortage in the market, which the company is struggling to cope with.
Lilly is ramping up investments to boost production at Mounjaro and Zepbound in the second half of 2024.
The company said it expects intermittent supply disruptions in the near term due to unprecedented demand.
How to cure the drug shortage
The last major “drug shortage ” in U.S. history occurred in 2014, and it has only been alleviated in the years since.
Since 2021, the drug shortage situation seems to be increasing, and scholars in the field of medical health and economics in the United States believe that the reason for most drug shortages in the United States is the fragmentation of the drug supply chain.
The White House this month proposed spending between $3.26 billion and $5.11 billion over the next decade to help address the nation ’ s drug shortage.
The bill requires approval and funding from the U.S. Congress.
U.S. researchers and policymakers believe that a complete solution to the “drug shortage ” may require changes to the business model of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, including measures to increase the price of generic drugs to attract more drug manufacturers.
Policymakers recommend giving the FDA more power to access more information about drug shortages and impending shortages.
Currently, the FDA relies primarily on phone calls to manufacturers asking if they can increase their supply to understand the situation.
The American Society of Health System Pharmacists said it is working with the federal government to advise the government on measures to address the drug shortage, including that Congress should require manufacturers to be more transparent on any supply chain issues and encourage more diversity in supply chains.
According to Abramowitz, “The federal government still has a lot of work to do to fundamentally address drug shortages, and the American Society of Health System Pharmacists will continue to engage regularly with policymakers to guide them in drafting and passing new legislation to address drug shortages and continue to advocate vigorously for proven solutions on behalf of our members. ”

Nearly all U.S. hospital pharmacists report shortages, with 309 drugs in shortage near the all‑time high of 320.

Title:

Content: As drug shortage list grows, many hospitals face tough decisions on rationing care

More than half of hospital pharmacists are reporting a critical shortage of chemotherapy drugs and nearly all are reporting overall medicine supply gaps as prescription drug shortages near an all time high, according to a new survey.

Hospital pharmacists said drug shortages have forced 1 in 3 health systems to delay, cancel or ration care or switch to alternate drugs to continue to treat patients. And 99% are reporting some drug supply shortages, an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists survey of more than 1,000 pharmacists released Thursday found.

The organization reported shortages of 309 drugs, near the all-time high of 320 shortages in 2014. The scarcity of key drugs is prompting hospitals to find or substitute drugs and change treatment plans as needed.

“In some cases, there are no alternatives to the affected drugs, which puts patients at risk," ASHP Chief Executive Officer Paul W. Abramowitz said in a statement. "This issue requires quick action from Congress to address the underlying causes of shortages and ensure patients have the medications they need.”

Cancer drug shortages

In June, the Food and Drug Administration said it will temporarily allow overseas drug manufacturers to import some chemotherapy drugs.

The FDA allowed Qilu Pharmaceutical, a drug manufacturer in China, to import the injectable chemotherapy drug cisplatin in 50-milligram vials. Toronto pharmaceutical company Apotex Corp. will distribute the medication in the United States.

More than a dozen cancer drugs have been in shortage in recent months, including cisplatin and carboplatin, used to treat lung, breast, prostate and gynecologic cancers. The National Cancer Institute said cisplatin and similar drugs are prescribed for 10% to 20% of all cancer patients.

In June, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network released a survey of 27 academic cancer centers that found 93% reported shortages of carboplatin and 70% faced shortages of cisplatin.

When cancer hospitals face such shortages, they attempt to make sure there's enough medication for patients to finish the course of treatment, said Mike Ganio, ASHP's senior director of pharmacy practice and quality.

Cancer hospitals facing such shortages might change medications for new patients starting on chemotherapy, said Ganio, a former pharmacy manager at an academic cancer center.

"You try to keep that patient on the same regimen as much as you can, unless they're failing it for some reason, and then you would switch," Ganio said.

Steroids, hormonal drugs also in short supply

More than 1 in 5 hospital pharmacists also reported shortages for steroids, hormonal drugs and oral liquids such as lidocaine, ibuprofen and amoxicillin.

A smaller number of pharmacists said heart medications, emergency prefilled syringes and drugs used for intensive care unit patients were in short supply. Others reported shortages of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medicines, antimicrobial drugs and injectable opioids.

In all, about two-thirds of pharmacists said the shortages were "moderately impactful," which means they are managing shortages but patients are affected.

Pharmacists are managing the shortages by offering therapeutic alternatives, buying different vial sizes or concentrations and rationing medicines.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Survey: Drug shortages are widespread, hospitals ration care

More than half of treatment shortages last over two years and the average shortage affects at least half a million patients, while some U.S. shortages have persisted up to 15 years.

Shortages rose across Europe as well, with France signaling 4,925 drug shortages in 2023 (up from 2,160 in 2021 and 3,761 in 2022) and 44% of people in 2024 facing a drug shortage.

Title:

Content: French health groups put forward proposals to limit the damage of worsening drug shortages

Medicines such as cough syrup, lozenges and ointment are seen on a table in an apartment in Berlin, Tuesday, December 20, 2022. Copyright Stephanie Pilick/dpa via AP
Copyright Stephanie Pilick/dpa via AP
By Lauren Chadwick
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Pharmaceutical companies’ lack of transparency leads to rising drug prices and less control over public resources, the group of health organisations say.

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A group of French organisations have called for more transparency from pharmaceutical companies as drug shortages increase.

In a joint report, 14 civil society organisations outlined their recommendations to solve a “situation that has only worsened” since 2018.

The French medicines regulator signalled 4,925 drug shortages in 2023, compared to 3,761 in 2022 and 2,160 in 2021.

A 2024 survey from France Assos Santé, which represents patients, found that 44 per cent of people in France said they had faced a drug shortage this year.

One of the pharmacy unions in France has even planned a strike at the end of the month over drug shortages and what they say is worsening access to care.

Each health organisation contributed an article with recommendations for dealing with the drug shortages.

The League Against Cancer urged complete transparency on drug shortages and potential substitutions for health professionals.

They also called for monitoring of medicine stocks and their location in the country to guarantee equal access.

The organisation found in a survey published in February that 78 per cent of health professionals in oncology had been faced with a drug shortage.

Drug shortages or delays have led to anxiety among cancer patients, lost time, and worsening symptoms, the organisation said.

France Assos Santé, meanwhile, wrote that an urgent response should not be to support “the industrial sector which bears serious responsibilities” for abandoning the production of less profitable drugs, relocating drug production, and keeping insufficient medicine stocks.

They would like any cost increases justified by production costs or the risk of withdrawing a drug from the market due to it being unprofitable. They called for cost evaluations to be made public.

Their concerns also range from the use of public money to bring drug production to Europe to new government plans to prevent shortages.

Some changes at the EU level criticised

Last year, the European Commission announced several measures to reform the pharmaceutical industry and address critical drug shortages.

The European Parliament went on to adopt a position on pharmaceutical reform last month, that included “incentives for innovation” and an effort to limit overuse of antibiotics.

The non-profit organisation Prescrire, which focuses on information about medicine, wrote in a chapter they contributed to the report that while some of the European Commission’s measures were welcome, others were concerning.

One of the many measures they rejected included the Commission’s proposal to reduce the number of days of scientific evaluation of drugs from 210 to 180, which they said was necessary time rather than an “administrative obstacle”.

While the NGO welcomed some measures such as government drug shortage prevention plans, it said the Commission should allow EU states to require pharmaceutical companies to have safety stocks of medicine and sanction those that do not respect them.

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French consumer organisation UFC-Que Choisir and the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) said that they had hoped MEPs would shorten the length of time for “data protection” to allow generic medicines to be marketed more quickly.

Instead, MEPs approved shortening the period to 7.5 years, “which is almost the same duration as the current 8 years [yet] within the framework of the text adopted by Parliament, companies can gain additional months of protection under certain conditions to reach a total of 8.5 years,” UFC-Que Choisir said.

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Estonia recorded 183 shortages in 2021, 359 in 2022, and 450 in 2023, reflecting a sharp increase driven by production problems, raw material gaps, and surges in demand.

Title:

Content: Drug supply problems have worsened in Estonia
This year, pharmacies in Estonia faced a much larger shortage of drugs than a year earlier.
Problems with supplies are caused by both increased demand and shortage of raw materials, reports rus.err with reference to "Actual chamber".
This spring, parents faced a shortage of antibiotics and antipyretic drugs suitable for children, and in the fall, the Sorbister drug for renal patients had to be issued from the state reserve stock, since it was not enough due to supply problems in pharmacies.
Hospitals are also facing a severe shortage of medicines this year.
“For example, hospitals use very important drugs to treat the consequences of heart attacks and strokes, the supply problems of which have been observed for a year, but thanks to good cooperation, we were able to ensure that no one was left without treatment, ” said Marco Tiisler, head of the Import and Export Supervision Department of the Drug Department.
In 2021, there was a shortage of 183 drugs in pharmacies, last year - 359, as of the end of this year - 450 drugs, and in the case of 130 drugs, the cause of the deficiency is unknown.
The second significant reason was a sudden surge in demand, for example, for the drug Ozempic, which is popular among those who lose weight, but drugs can be in short supply due to problems with production.
- Producers lack the active ingredient.
The active substances come from third countries, they are not always available, this was stated by one of the largest European manufacturers of antibiotics, - said Tiisler.
Drug supply problems put not only patients in a difficult position, but also doctors who have to quickly find replacements, sometimes in conditions of scarce information about alternatives.
If earlier, in the case of a shortage of drugs, the patient had to pay the full cost of the drug prescribed as a substitute, recently the Health Insurance Fund, as an exception, decided to extend the discount to some alternatives.
According to Lee Rootslane, head of the Union of Pharmacies, problems with the supply of medicines are a growing problem throughout Europe.
- This year, in cooperation with the Drug Department and family doctors, we made recommendations so that if a problem arises, we do not solve it after the fact, but try to provide some solutions and avoid panic.
In the case of children ’ s syrups, people read about the shortage of syrup, went to the pharmacy and took two syrups instead of the usual one, ” Rootslane said.
The drug department recommends having a weekly supply of non-prescription drugs and a monthly supply of prescription drugs at home.
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Saudi Arabia received 107,246 medication shortage reports in Q1 2021—about 50 per hour—and resolved 98.95% through an operations room mechanism.

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Content: Saudi News
There are 50 urgent reports every hour about the shortage of medicines in Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry of Health revealed that it received 107,246 reports during the first quarter of this year 2021 regarding the lack of medicines and vaccines in hospitals and health centers affiliated to the Ministry, with 1,191 reports daily and 50 reports every hour.
According to official data issued by the Ministry, during the first quarter of this year, the health received 67,065 reports related to the lack of medicines, in addition to 40,181 reports on the lack of vaccinations in health centers.
In order to solve the problem of shortage of medicines and vaccines, the ministry said that it has established an operations room to follow up reports of shortage of medicines to identify the challenges facing health facilities in providing medicines to beneficiaries, which reduced the number of weekly reports.
Statistics of communications

Lack of medicines in the hospitals of the Ministry of Health.
Description of the communication
Reports received from some beneficiaries related to the lack of availability of the medicine disbursed to them by the establishment.
Number of complaints closed
 98.95%
Number of communications
 67065
Source of the communication
Call Center « 937 » - « Twitter »
Service Evaluation
 85.81%

Lack of vaccinations in health centers
Description of the communication
Notifications received from some beneficiaries who did not receive vaccinations service.
Number of complaints closed
 99  34%
Number of communications
 40181
Source of the communication
Call Center (937) - Twitter
Service Evaluation
 88.82%
Report Period
 Q1 - 2021
Report Period
 Q1 - 2021
Decision for improvement
An operations room has been established to follow up reports of lack of medicines to identify the challenges facing health facilities in providing medicines to beneficiaries, thus reducing the number of weekly reports.
Decision for improvement
A weekly report containing the most important challenges leading to the lack of vaccinations was directed to be prepared and presented to leaders on a regular basis, which led to a reduction in the number of reports related to this classification.
These were the details of urgent news | 50 reports every hour on the shortage of medicines in Saudi Arabia for today we hope that we have succeeded by giving you the details and full information and to follow all our news you can subscribe to the system alerts or in one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available on Al-Watan Online has been verified by the editorial team in Gulf 365 and may have been modified and may have been transferred in full or quoted from it and you can read and follow up on the news from its main source.
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Three‑quarters of EU countries reported worsening shortages in 2022, with reliance on imported ingredients from China and India and supply chain disruptions compounding the problem.

Title:

Content: Brussels is planning for EU countries to share vital medicines and take emergency measures to avoid a repeat of shortages that hit the bloc a year ago.

The European Commission is proposing a “voluntary solidarity mechanism” requested by France and Germany and an early warning system flagging when drugs become scarce, according to draft proposals seen by the Financial Times. If insufficient donors come forward, EU capitals will be allowed to tap into an EU-funded stockpile set up during the Covid-19 pandemic and take other emergency measures.

In December and January western countries suffered a shortage of antibiotics including penicillin and amoxicillin, and painkillers such as paracetamol, especially in medicines used by children.

Among the emergency measures floated to prevent a repeat of that crisis, the commission could allow the extension of a drug’s shelf life, fast track approvals of alternative suppliers and support production increases.

Brussels will also encourage joint procurement of drugs from 2024 and medicine swaps with countries in the southern hemisphere, where peak winter demand happens at a different time.

The commission will draw up guidance for national stockpiles in 2024 and establish a Critical Medicines Alliance bringing governments, industry and civil society together. The commission declined to comment.

Three-quarters of countries reported a worsening of drug shortages in 2022, according to an industry survey. EU manufacturing is heavily reliant on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients from China and India.

Rising demand and disruption to supply chains have been compounded by inflation hitting the production of generic drugs, which typically sell at much lower prices than branded versions.

France has been actively encouraging the reshoring of basic medicine supply, with a giant paracetamol factory set to open in the country next year.

The EU is discussing whether to provide more funding for domestic production.

The commission’s proposal is scheduled to be approved on October 25 and could still change. Initially non-binding, it could lead to a Critical Medicines Act, with Brussels drawing up a list of vital medicines by year-end.

The commission also urges member states and the European parliament to approve its overhaul of pharmaceutical legislation, put forward in April. It includes plans to take control of drug production in the event of a public health emergency, a requirement for stockholders to inform Brussels of supply levels and for manufacturers to give early warnings of shortages.

An analysis by the European Medicines Agency and the commission found that unless there is unexpected demand the EU should avoid an antibiotics shortage this year.

“The information available today suggests that — if demand in the coming winter season does not differ significantly from the demand of recent years — the supply to the EU of key antibiotics seems to generally match demand,” the analysis said.

“However, this depends strongly on the compliance of industry with their legal obligations to ensure supply and their ability to adapt.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023. All rights reserved.
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WHO warned of a global shortage of up to 2 billion injection units by 2022 as COVID‑19 vaccination doubled injection demand, raising risks for routine immunization.

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Content: 19: 53 GMT09 November 2021
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The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday of the risk of a worldwide injection shortage of up to 2 billion units by next year, threatening to disrupt vaccination efforts.
The shortfall is mainly due to COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, where billions of injections are used more than usual around the world, which has negatively affected the world ’ s supply of this essential tool.
The World Health Organization ’ s senior adviser on securing access to medicines and health products, Lisa Hedman, said that as the supply of doses of the coronavirus vaccine increases, the supply of injections must be kept up.
"We are raising real concern that there may be a shortage of immunization syringes, which in turn will lead to serious problems, such as slowing down vaccination efforts."
And she went on to say:
"Depending on how the vaccine is absorbed, the deficit could range from 1 billion to 2 billion injections."
More than 7.25 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been given to the global population, nearly double the number of routine vaccinations given annually and double the number of injections required, according to an AFP tally.
See also:
World Health Organization: The pace of coronavirus transmission in Europe is very worrying
WHO approves emergency use of India ’ s Covaxine anti-coronavirus vaccine
WHO resolves controversy over combined coronavirus and flu vaccines
Keywords:
Coronavirus, WHO

Canada experienced shortages of pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen amid 20–40% demand surges, prompting advisories, production increases, and compounding as stopgaps.

Title:

Content: 'Consumer-driven demand' drives shortage of children's pain, fever meds

Calgary parents are scrambling to find pain and fever meds for their children, but drugstore shelves have been in scant supply for a little over a month.

Mehgan Johnson says her baby daughter Joella became feverish after receiving routine vaccines in September.

"I went to our normal pharmacy and they had nothing. Then I went and checked out another one, and then I checked out Costco and then I realized, oh, there's a theme here. I can't find them anywhere," she said.

Children's Tylenol and Advil — made with acetaminophen and ibuprofen — are in short supply across Canada.

The products are dosed for small children to help manage pain and fever.

Johnson was able to find some liquid pain meds for her child from friends, but says the situation was scary for her as a new mom.

Another Calgary parent has also been unable to buy the over-the-counter drugs in recent weeks.

"Doctors recommend that if they're teething, give them Tylenol, and there's no Tylenol. Then it's tough to know how to make that pain go away for them," said Nicole Goss, mom of toddler Olivia.

DEMAND ISSUE, NOT SUPPLY

Tylenol producer Johnson & Johnson (J&J) sent CTV News a statement, which reads:

"We continue to experience increased consumer-driven demand with certain products and markets. We are taking all possible measures to ensure product availability."

A Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada spokesperson says demand is up 20-40 per cent from historic highs, while autumn's typical cold and flu season is also adding pressure.

The spokesperson says J&J and Haleon, which makes Advil, have begun ramping up production to meet the outsized demand.

COMPOUNDING PHARMACIES CAN HELP

Some Alberta pharmacies with an approved lab facility are able to compound children's pain meds by mixing pure acetaminophen and ibuprofen with a suspension fluid and flavouring.

It’s part of a short-term solution from the Alberta College of Pharmacy, which should cease when commercial products become available.

Pharmacists warn against makeshift medications made at home from available adult-dosed products.

"We want to be careful with dosing. Depending on the children's age and weight, there can be different dosing available for the child," said Randy Howden, pharmacist and owner of the Crowfoot Medicine Shoppe & Compounding Centre.

"The important piece is making sure we get the right dose and that we are doing something that’s going to be safe."

Howden says it’s unclear when Alberta pharmacies will be able to restock the shelves.

"Right now, our warehouse is telling us there's indeterminate availability or maybe in November we'll have some stock, but that could change day to day depending on a number of factors," he said.

He also recommends purchasing one item of compound medication at a time, as stockpiling could only make the problem worse.

Health Canada told CTV News earlier this week that it is in touch with manufacturers, pharmacists and provincial health leaders and is reviewing a request from a group of Conservative MP's to import foreign supply.

Ireland faced a paracetamol shortage in 2023 due to Covid‑19 and flu waves, but alternative strengths and brands were available to maintain continuity.

Title:

Content: Ireland has been suffering a paracetamol shortage as cases of Covid-19 and the winter flu in the country soared over the festive and new year period.

The revelation was made by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly after his department received notification of a supply issue from the Health Products Regulatory Authority.

It is understood the shortage impacted some prescription paracetamol products.

Read More:Irish people complain of ‘worst ever’ winter bug sweeping country that feels like Covid but isn’t

Two suppliers affected have stated that resupply will be sometime in January 2023.

However, there are other prescription paracetamol suppliers with some stock available on the shelves.

Paracetamol is one of the medicines used most often in Ireland and especially for the flu, aches and pain.

But Mr Donnelly pointed out that there are multiple forms of the drug with different strengths and brands available from various sources.

He said: "In the event that there are some supply issues for individual medicines, alternative options such as alternative strengths and brands, generic medicines will usually be available to ensure continuity of treatment.

"In some cases where the medicine initially prescribed for the patient is unavailable, patients may be switched to a suitable therapeutic alternative following appropriate consultation with a healthcare professional."

The Health Minister said medicine shortages have been increasingly prevalent worldwide over the past decade. The causes of such shortages are multifactorial including shortage of raw materials, manufacturing difficulties and industry consolidations.

He stated: "Medicine shortages can originate at any point in the supply chain. They can involve and impact many stakeholders in different ways as the supply models and clinical use of therapies can vary across national health systems.

"Management of medicines shortages necessitates a multi-faceted, multi stakeholder response to ensure patient safety , continuity of care and protection of public health.

"Patients or their carers who have any concerns in relation to temporary alternative products provided because of medical shortages are advised to speak with their pharmacist or other healthcare [professionals] involved in their care."

Mr Donnelly was responding to a number of written Dail questions on the shortage of medicines.

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China reported resolving 2023 shortage reports by improving shortage classification, monitoring production supply, and enabling temporary import of urgent drugs.

Title:

Content: 【 Printing 】
2023 shortage of drugs reported information has been fully dealt with
Related LINKS http: / / www.CRNT.com 2024-03-14 15: 33: 32
Beijing, March 14 / Xinhua News Agency reported that the reporter learned from the National Health and Health Commission on the 13th, the national, provincial, municipal and county four shortage drug classification system gradually improved and effective operation, 2023 shortage drug reporting information has been fully addressed, and the temporary import work of clinically urgent drugs is done.
It is understood that in the near future, the national and provincial shortage of drug supply guarantee work will discuss the mechanism of various units to ensure the supply of stable prices as the focus, and continue to improve the classification of shortage of drugs to deal with the ability to deal with, multi-dimensional improvement of shortage of drug information monitoring.
The National Health and Health Commission relies on the national public medical and health institutions shortage of drug information direct reporting system and other monitoring conditions to carry out monitoring and early warning and regular reporting.
The State Medical Insurance Bureau continuously monitors the national shortage list of drugs and clinically necessary drugs that are vulnerable to shortage, focusing on the abnormal high prices and distribution data of the listed drugs.
The National Drug Administration continues to collect information on the production supply and shutdown reports of shortage of pharmaceutical products.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology relies on the shortage drug production supply monitoring and early warning platform to carry out dynamic monitoring and analysis.
The Ministry of Commerce organized some large pharmaceutical wholesale and retail enterprises to pay close attention to the supply and demand situation of pharmaceutical products.
At the same time, the whole chain guarantees the stable supply of shortage drugs.
The National Drug Administration continues to promote the review and approval of national shortage drug list varieties, and carries out the basic information labeling and data management of shortage drugs.
The State Medical and Health Insurance Bureau fully implements the policy of online procurement of shortage drugs, and explores the centralized procurement of shortage drugs.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology continues to support the construction of centralized production bases for small varieties of drugs, and establish regular shortages of drugs at the central and local levels.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment takes flexible enforcement action to help enterprises rectify the situation in a timely manner if the environment of the enterprises involved in the production of pharmaceutical raw materials or preparations violates the law.
The SASAC of the State Council continues to promote state-owned enterprises to fulfill their social responsibilities in the supply of shortage drugs and play the function of "cistern".
The National Post Office continues to promote the construction of a comprehensive postal service platform, supporting the postal group to give full play to its network advantages and continuously improve its medical distribution service capabilities.
In addition, strengthen the enforcement of illegal acts.
The General Administration of Market Supervision investigates and punishes illegal acts such as monopoly in the field of pharmaceutical products according to law, and plays a warning and education role in major typical cases.
The General Administration of Taxation further increased the investigation and punishment of tax violations by some pharmaceutical enterprises, and standardized the tax order in the pharmaceutical field.
According to the clues of the problem and illegal facts, the National Medical Insurance Bureau talked about the relevant pharmaceutical companies to reduce the level of drug prices involved, and block the chain of benefits of manufacturing shortages and monopoly price increases.
【 Printing 】
Related News:

The most affected categories include chemotherapy agents, with 32 chemotherapy drugs currently in shortage and oncologists reporting severe constraints.

U.S. cancer drug shortages have led to FDA‑permitted imports of cisplatin while over a dozen cancer drugs remained scarce, and 93% of centers reported carboplatin shortages.

Central nervous system stimulants, including ADHD medications such as Adderall, have faced protracted shortages since October 2022.

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The shortage of 323 medical drugs is the worst since 2001.
According to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacis (ASHP), 323 medical drugs are currently in short supply, breaking the previous record of 320 shortages in 2014 and the most severe since tracking drug shortages began in 2001.
ASHP ’ s collaborative survey with the Utah Drug Information Service found that drug shortages in the United States are increasing and show no signs of improvement.
The institute said that all kinds of drugs are at risk of being out of stock, and the most worrying is the lack of even general injection disinfection drugs, including cancer chemotherapy drugs, and emergency medicine stores in hospitals and surgery departments.
Adderall, which is used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy, is one of the most difficult drugs to track and has been in short supply since October 2022. The Drug Enforcement Administration said last fall that more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies said they intended to increase adderall production, but ASHP noted that the problem persists to this day.
Members of the Society of Pharmacists say there is a national shortage of drugs to treat ADHD, which is still causing problems for medical personnel and patients.
Adderall will be short of loans, one of the reasons is that during the Covid-19 period, the use of large, delayed production by major manufacturers, and other manufacturers can not meet production targets.
In its quarterly report, ASHP noted that most pharmaceutical companies are reluctant to disclose the cause of the drug supply shortage.
Experts believe that the rapid increase in demand, supply is too late, pharmaceutical companies are limited, and the supply chain of pharmaceutical materials is blocked.
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Diabetes drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro are in shortage in the U.S., with Mounjaro constrained by unprecedented demand.

Antibiotics and anesthetics have also been in short supply, affecting critical care and routine treatments.

Title:

Content: The New York Times Original
Continue reading Growing drug shortage in the United States has become a threat to national security
The shortage of medicines in the United States last year increased compared to 2021 by 30%, according to The New York Times.
However, the article notes that the growing shortage of inexpensive but critical drugs poses a national security threat to the United States.
The growing shortage of inexpensive but critical drugs poses a threat to U.S. national security and forces hospitals to make “terrible ” choices, writes The New York Times, citing a report prepared for hearings in the U.S. Senate.
According to this report, the shortage of medicines last year increased by almost 30% compared to 2021, with an average shortage of medicines observed for 18 months, and for some drugs – 15 years.
Among the drugs in short supply are conventional antibiotics and anesthetics, the article said.
Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan and chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, said that these problems are related to economic factors, an opaque supply chain and the fact that 80% to 90% of some products are made abroad.
“Taken together, these underlying causes not only raise serious concerns about ensuring proper patient care, but also pose a serious threat to national security, ” Peters said.
Dr. Andrew Schumann, an oncology surgeon from Michigan, told senators at the hearing that the shortage of drugs in his field is "a tragedy occurring in slow motion."
As Schumann noted, recently due to the shortage of one cheap, but well-proven cancer drug, he had to choose which patients will receive this drug.
The article notes that many of the cheapest drugs tend to be made in countries such as India and China, where they are inexpensive to manufacture.
However, this concentration of production capacity creates an additional level of vulnerability to problems such as natural disasters and political unrest, emphasizes The New York Times.
The materials of InoTV contain estimates of exclusively foreign media and do not reflect the position of RT
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Shortages of sterile injectable generic drugs are particularly common due to manufacturing complexity and quality issues.

Amoxicillin oral products have been in short supply among multiple U.S. manufacturers, though alternative antibiotics can sometimes be used.

Title:

Content: US low on amoxicillin

The infection antibiotic amoxicillin is in short supply among at least three drugmakers, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and Bloomberg

As of Oct. 20, 14 of London-based Hikma Pharmaceuticals' amoxicillin products and nine of Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals' supply are part of the national shortage, according to the ASHP's drug shortage website.

Amoxicillin comes in many forms — including capsules, powders and chewable tablets — but the most common type children take is the liquid form, which makes up at least 19 products that are part of the dearth.

Hikma's oral amoxicillin drugs are on allocation, meaning the drugmaker is curbing new orders to ensure it can meet current contracts. Teva told ASHP it expects its back-ordered products to return to normal supply levels between late October and early December.

Novartis' Sandoz business also has a lack of the antibiotic because of "significant" demand, a company spokesperson told Bloomberg

Hikma, Teva and Sandoz account for three of four top manufacturers of the drug, according to Bloomberg. There are other antibiotics available, but the CDC recommends amoxicillin as a "first-line therapy" for multiple common pediatric infections.

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Steroids and hormonal therapies have been affected, further broadening the clinical impact.

Core drivers include manufacturing and quality failures, supply chain gaps, and downtime across opaque and fragmented supply networks.

Economic pressures, limited redundancy, and lack of transparency further hinder timely responses and sustained supply.

FDA inspections and plant shutdowns can abruptly reduce capacity and trigger cascading shortages.

High demand spikes—for example GLP‑1 diabetes and weight‑management drugs—have outstripped production capacity.

Global dependencies for active ingredients and finished products, with 80–90% of some products made abroad and heavy reliance on India and China, magnify vulnerability.

DEA quota policies have contributed to shortages of opioids and ADHD medications, with distributors also restricting shipments and some states imposing taxes that raise costs.

Title:

Content: Drastic cutbacks in the supply of prescription opioids, tougher monitoring of where those pills go and other efforts to curb abuse have had an unintended consequence, Long Island doctors and pharmacists say: People who have a legitimate need for the medicine to relieve severe pain now often have a hard time finding it.

Patients say the shortage means they must endure more pain after they run out of medication. Physicians' staffs sometimes have to call pharmacy after pharmacy to fill patients' prescriptions.

“I have a dozen messages every day from people saying their pharmacy doesn’t have” opioids, said Dr. Edward Rubin, a pain management specialist with offices in Garden City and Lake Success, who said he is careful to prescribe opioids only to patients without good alternatives, particularly those recovering from major surgery.

The opioid medicine shortage that doctors and pharmacists say has emerged over the past few years comes after decades during which pain pills like OxyContin flooded the market and addicted countless Americans. Prescription-drug overdose deaths spiked in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

WHAT TO KNOW

  • Doctors and pharmacists said efforts to reduce the supply of legal opioids to prevent diversion and abuse have gone too far and made it difficult for those with legitimate pain needs to access their medicine.
  • The Drug Enforcement Administration has drastically reduced its annual caps on opioid manufacturing, leading to shortages at pharmacies, which receive a limited number of opioids each month, doctors and pharmacists say.
  • Doctors say opioids were overprescribed in the past, and they are cautious in deciding whether to authorize them for patients. But they said opioids remain the best alternative for some people with severe pain.

Although fentanyl, much of it illegally manufactured, now kills a far greater percentage of people, the number of prescription-drug overdose fatalities in 2021 — 16,706 — is only slightly below the 2017 peak and five times more than in 1999, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. On Long Island in 2022, more than 700 people died of overdoses of legal and illegal opioids, most of them from fentanyl, Nassau and Suffolk officials said this week.

Rubin and other doctors and pharmacists put principal blame for the opioid shortage on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s declining cap on the amount of opioids pharmaceutical manufacturers can produce each year. For example, the DEA slashed the quota for the most widely produced opioid, oxycodone, which includes the brand names OxyContin and Percocet, from 164 million grams in 2013 to about 54 million in 2023.

“Continuing to throttle the legitimate supply is only hurting legitimate patients at the moment,” Rubin said.

Patients who can’t find their prescribed medicine "are scrambling and switching medications, and we’re adding more risk … [because] I don't know how they're going to respond to a totally different medication," he said.

Tom D’Angelo, owner of pharmacies in Franklin Square, Garden City and Point Lookout and former president of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, said the DEA should increase quotas so patients with legitimate pain needs can obtain relief.

He fears that some people in severe pain may resort to buying pills on the street, where something sold as oxycodone may actually be a potentially fatal dose of fentanyl.

“If you’re in enough pain, you’ll try anything,” he said.

Rationing pain-relief pills

John Douglas, 66, of Lake Grove, has been taking opioid medications for several years, first for neck pain, and now also for joint pain from prostate cancer drugs.

“I’m in pain constantly,” he said.

He’s tried several alternatives to opioids and, although the hydrocodone he takes “doesn’t give me 100% relief,” it reduces pain and allows him to work as a physical therapist assistant.

Yet, multiple times, he’s faced delays or uncertainty in obtaining medication, and he’s had to cut pills in half to ration them, which increases his pain.

“I’m sick and tired of every time you go to the drugstore, you don’t know if your medicine is going to be there or not,” he said. “It’s just not right.”

People with legitimate pain are being “penalized” for those who abuse opioids, he said.

Patients nationwide have struggled to obtain their opioid medications. Hundreds of chronic pain patients, medical professionals and others submitted remarks to the DEA last year about the agency's 2023 quotas, some expressing concern that decreases “have resulted in a shortage of opioid medications, interfered with the treatment of patients, and impacted the quality of life for patients possibly leading to suicide,” according to a DEA summary of comments released in December.

Critics, in comments submitted to the DEA and in statements from pharmaceutical executives and others, said DEA quotas on ingredients for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder medications also are among the reasons for a nationwide shortage of those drugs.

But faced with an ongoing opioid crisis, the DEA has been under pressure to reduce quotas. A 2020 letter to the DEA from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said despite huge previous cuts in quotas, they were still “excessively high.” Spokespeople for Durbin and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment.

The DEA in the December report said its quotas are set “in a manner to provide for all legitimate medical purposes.” It also said the limits "help prevent the misuse and diversion of pharmaceutical controlled substances,” and overdoses. A DEA spokeswoman declined to comment further.

The DEA acknowledged in the report that fewer than 1% of five common opioid medications were diverted for illicit uses. Numerous comments also pointed out that despite the drop in quotas, overdose deaths were up — especially from fentanyl and pain pills manufactured illegally outside the quotas.

Mary Silberstein, senior director of strategic alliances and special projects for Hicksville-based CN Guidance and Counseling Services, said restrictions on opioid supply and distribution were “much needed” and have saved lives.

“When you had so many people giving out the prescriptions in such large quantities, you had to have restrictions,” she said.

Silberstein said even though most people with opioid problems currently coming to CN Guidance are misusing fentanyl, a significant number are addicted to prescription opioids.

Opioid prescription rates drop on Long Island

The massive decrease in opioid quotas came after dramatic increases in the 1990s and 2000s. The quota for oxycodone, for example, rose from 3.5 million in 1993, before FDA approval of one of the most widely abused opioids, OxyContin, to its peak of 164 million in 2013. Other opioids had less extreme increases or were taken off the market.

Although the number of opioid prescriptions began falling after 2010, there still were about three times as many opioids prescribed in 2015 as in 1999, when calculated by “morphine milligram equivalents,” to account for differences in drug type and strength, according to a 2017 article in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly.

On Long Island, the number of opioid prescriptions per 100 people fell by more than half in Suffolk between 2012 and 2020, from 66.4 to 29.9, while Nassau’s rate decreased from 49.2 to 41.3, below the national rate of 43.3, according to the CDC. The rate includes people with multiple prescriptions in a year.

Experts say rates are declining in part because doctors turn to opioids more sparingly and there are more controls to flag physicians who prescribe unusually large amounts of opioids. In the past, people abusing opioids “would doctor-shop,” said Dr. Paul Pipia, president of the Medical Society of the State of New York and deputy medical director of Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. “There was no way to know who went where.”

There now is an electronic registry of patients’ controlled-substance histories that the state requires medical professionals to review before writing prescriptions. A law capping initial opioid prescriptions for acute pain at seven days, with refills only after further evaluation, limits overprescribing, Pipia said.

Pharmacists say ceilings on how many opioids they dispense each month mean that even though the number of opioid prescriptions is declining, they can't always fill them.

As part of a $21 billion settlement for their alleged role in the opioid crisis, the nation’s three largest pharmaceutical distributors agreed to increase their scrutiny of opioids and limit the quantity they send each pharmacy.

D’Angelo said if he runs out of his monthly opioid allotment, he has to make hard decisions on who gets their medications.

Mukash Patel, owner of pharmacies in Dix Hills and Patchogue, said he sometimes can’t get certain opioids “for days on end.”

“The patient should not have to run around calling 30 different places to see if the drug is in stock,” he said.

Often, pharmacies won’t tell patients if they have a medicine, so Rubin said his staff must make the calls.

“We don't have the bandwidth to be calling a dozen pharmacies for everybody who can’t get their medication,” he said.

Lauren Esposito, spokesperson for one of the distributors in the opioid settlement, Pennsylvania-based Amerisource Bergen, said in a statement that distributors “have been asked to walk a legal and ethical tightrope by both maintaining access to products while simultaneously limiting potential diversion.”

She called for better federal guidance “to support patient access.”

State opioid tax

D’Angelo said a state excise tax on most opioids, approved by the New York Legislature in 2019 as part of the state budget, aggravates the problem.

Wisconsin-based Independent Pharmacy Cooperative stopped selling opioids covered by the excise tax before it went into effect because “we thought that continuing to sell would likely mean that it would have been unprofitable,” said the company’s general counsel, Paul Karch. Last year, the company stopped selling all opioids nationwide because of high monitoring costs, he said.

Assemb. Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), who headed the Assembly’s alcoholism and drug abuse committee when the tax was enacted, opposes the way the tax is structured because it can lead to higher prices for consumers, as well as lower supply. She called on the Department of Health to study the problem and find solutions.

Dr. Thomas Jan, a Massapequa pain management and addiction physician, said pain patients shouldn't have such difficulty obtaining prescribed medications. But, he said, in the past, many well-intentioned doctors were too quick to prescribe opioids, and they often prescribed too much, putting patients at increased risk of addiction. Jan said around 2010, his then-16-year-old son was prescribed 90 Vicodin pills after having a wisdom tooth pulled.

Dr. Yili Huang, a regional manager for pain management services for Northwell Health, said additional controls have caused doctors to think more carefully about alternatives to opioids. But opioids still have an important role, especially in relieving pain after surgery and for cancer, palliative and end-of-life care, he said.

Yet some doctors are hesitant to prescribe opioids, for fear of being “stigmatized as a doctor that prescribes a lot of opioids,” Huang said.

Rubin said he is conscious of the risk of developing dependence or addiction to opioids, so about nine in 10 of his new patients “probably will never see an opioid."

“We have more options than we ever had to treat patients with injections and those types of therapies,” he said.

Rubin most often writes opioid prescriptions for patients in severe pain after major surgery. For chronic pain patients who previously weren't prescribed opioids, “we’re really trying to save it as a last resort," he said.

The CDC’s 2022 guidance for opioid prescribing says there is insufficient evidence to determine the long-term benefits of opioid therapy for chronic pain. But, the CDC said, doctors should carefully weigh the risks and benefits of discontinuing opioids for those already prescribed them.

Rubin is reluctant to take chronic pain patients off opioids if the medication has been helping them long-term.

“There are lawyers and accountants and people like that who couldn't sit in a chair all day and work at their desk without their pain medicine,” he said. “Society has to separate those people who are using medication judiciously and not lump them in with people who are trying to take high doses in an abuse-type situation to get high.”

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Geopolitical and macro shocks—including the pandemic, Russia‑Ukraine war, sanctions, and logistics disruptions—have constrained raw materials and delayed procurement.

Title:

Content: The epidemic disrupted the supply chain, coupled with the shortage of raw materials caused by the war between Ukraine and Russia, caused the "biggest shortage of drugs in 30 years" in Taiwan at the beginning of last year. With the coming of the Chinese New Year, patients are worried about hoarding goods, and I am afraid that the shortage of drugs will become more serious.
A domestic pharmaceutical company recently received a call from a patient, the original patient has a heart disease, has been taking self-funded drugs, but recently faced the problem of lack of drugs, the doctor can not prescribe the same drugs, so the patient urgently asked the pharmaceutical company directly.
The drug factory staff, who did not want to be named, revealed that "it is not only this patient, but these patients even set up groups to find out where they can buy drugs, forcing them to call us after they have no way out."
Wang Ming-yuan, deputy spokesman of the All Federation of Pharmacists Association, said: "Last year, the shortage of drugs was the most serious situation since the outbreak of the epidemic, resulting in lack of labor and logistics. Now, with the release of the epidemic, the shortage of drugs has slowed down slightly.
For example, many patients with allergic rhinitis have been short of medicine for four months, Wang says, "Because it contains ephedrine, which is a controlled drug, the FDA only puts two batches of raw materials a year, so it is easy to run out of medicine.
Another reason for the shortage of drugs is the price of health insurance drugs. Due to the price cut, about 36% of the market share of "tears point eye" withdrew from the health insurance market in November last year. The drug used in the past in the health insurance annual consumption of more than 2.3 million bottles, which is equivalent to 190,000 bottles per month. And...
Shen Tsai-ying, a pharmacist, criticized officials for only treating head pain and foot pain. She said that the price of "love tears" health insurance is more expensive, health insurance has not saved money at all, and now even the domestically produced "Wufu" and other artificial tears brands are all out of stock.
Shen Caiying predicts that this wave of artificial tears shortage will continue until at least the Spring Festival.
Since the implementation of the "Drug Expenses Target System" (DET) in 102 years, the National Health Insurance Administration has set the target value of annual drug expenditure to maintain a stable and reasonable range of drug expenses. Under the total payment system, effective control of drug expenditure. Last year, the total drug price was reduced by 8.18 billion yuan, and the price of 5,500 drugs was reduced.
"The price of water and electricity is rising, but the price of health insurance has been cut!"
Shen Caiying pointed out that the price of drugs is constantly being cut, and pharmaceutical companies have no choice but to withdraw from the health insurance market, which has led to a more serious shortage of drugs.
In recent years, the Red Sea has been involved in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and it has been attacked by Yemeni youth movement organizations, endangering the traffic of commercial ships. Large shipping companies have announced that they will stop sailing in the Red Sea and switch to the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, resulting in soaring freight costs. 180% increase.
Wang Ming-yuan laments that the situation at the freight gate will probably be the same as during the epidemic, and that the shortage of medicines will certainly increase, and with the arrival of the Chinese New Year, the public's "stockpiling" mentality will probably trigger a wave of drug snatching.
More CTWANT News
# Lack of medicine # Red Sea crisis # Lack of medicine # Original medicine

Budgetary constraints, debts to suppliers, and delayed payments have exacerbated shortages in some health systems.

Title:

Content: Lack of medicines in MOH hospitals and accumulation of indebtedness Repercussions / solutions
3 hours ago
Dr. Naeem Malkawi
The problem of shortage of medicines in Jordanian hospitals requires quick and effective attention and intervention, as providing medicines to patients is one of the foundations of quality health care and one of the most important strategies of the Ministry of Health, however, the shortage of medicines in many hospitals leads to health, economic and social challenges that threaten the quality of health care and patient safety.
The budget of the Ministry of Health of medicines, vaccines, vaccines and medical consumables for this year 2023 was estimated at 103.75 million dinars, where the actual for the past year 2022 was 93.8 million dinars.
The question is, how did the Ministry of Health accumulate such a large indebtedness in the item of medicines to reach 300 million dinars for pharmaceutical companies?
And why last week was the debt of 2019 cleared and deducted estimated at 50% of the debt for that year?
This means that there is still a delay in the payment of dues for companies for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022 in addition to eight months of the current year 2023, and this brings us to a range of reasons and challenges:
1.
The aim of the Ministry of Health was to reduce the bureaucracy of procedures and overcome the complexity of procurement references in hospitals and health directorates in the governorates and not to obtain price and discount preferences, but the results indicate a defect in the management and mechanism of dealing with the strategy of unified and central procurement, despite the margin for hospital administrations to use the power of direct purchase in cases of necessity.
2.
Preparation of sub-budgets for hospitals: Evidence shows that there is a problem in the preparation of sub-budgets for hospitals and the main budget of the Ministry of Health with regard to the item of medicines, which is due to the lack of accurate and sufficient data on the number of patients and hospital needs of medicines, and the lack of accurate forecasting of future needs.
3.
Delays in the review of financial claims and invoices between the Ministry of Health and the hospitals on the one hand and the pharmaceutical companies on the other hand, is one of the most important reasons behind the accumulation of indebtedness, and this negatively affects the liquidity of the pharmaceutical companies and hinders them from providing a sustainable service in adhering to the procedures of supplying medicines according to schedule.
4.
Lack of coordination and communication: There may be a lack of coordination and communication between hospitals, the Ministry of Health and pharmaceutical companies, which complicates the supply and distribution of medicines and increases the chances of delays and the depletion of medicines from hospitals in the absence of an effective policy for stock management and the time required for stock adequacy.
5.
Focusing on the trade names of certain drugs from specific production sources and not adopting the protocol of writing the scientific name for the prescriptions of patients.
6.
One of the reasons that may be major and important at the same time is the funding aspect and the lack of the necessary allocations or use them in other aspects other than medicines to fill a deficit or emergency during the use of budget items due to the scarcity of available liquidity. Medication.
Lack of medication can lead to:
1.
Threat to patient safety: Lack of medication puts sick people at risk, as this can lead to delays in receiving necessary treatment or the unavailability of vital drugs, putting their lives at risk.
2.
Economic Implications: The lack of medicines entails additional economic costs for the health system and patients.
Medical cases may be referred to other medical centers or private hospitals, increasing pressure on other MOH budget items.
3.
Pressure on health care workers: Health care workers are under pressure as a result of dealing with patients affected by drug shortages and repeatedly facing their inquiries and complaints.
4.
Social repercussions:
Increased anxiety and stress: A lack of medication can lead to an increase in anxiety and stress among patients and their families, as they live in uncertainty about the availability of the necessary treatment.
Lack of medication can affect the level of trust in the health system among citizens, who may feel that the system is unable to provide them with adequate health care.
Increased costs and social burdens: Some patients may have to incur additional costs to obtain drugs from other sources outside hospitals, affecting their financial and economic status.
After all this narrative there must be ways to overcome these dilemmas:
1.
Preparation of budgets scientifically and professionally: Hospitals should develop more accurate standards for the preparation of sub-budgets for medicines, through the analysis of previous data, estimation of future needs and other scientific and methodological foundations in the preparation of budgets and commitment to apply them accurately.
2.
Improve coordination and communication between parties: Coordination between the Ministry of Health, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies should be strengthened through the establishment of structured mechanisms for information exchange, review of invoices, and completion of claims, and not delay them.
3.
Implementation of fiscal reforms: The Government and the Ministry of Health should implement fiscal reforms that provide funding to cover this important item and pay dues in a timely manner, reduce bureaucracy in the financial audit process, and proceed with payment procedures within the timetable mechanism agreed in the tender terms.
4.
Achieving social responsibility: The government and pharmaceutical companies should adopt a social responsibility towards patients by providing these drugs and reducing their prices in the market to make them more accessible to patients while relieving part of the pressure and burden on hospitals.
Addressing the problem of drug shortages in government hospitals requires comprehensive cooperation between all concerned parties from government, Ministry of Health, hospitals, drug suppliers and patients.
To provide medicines on a permanent basis and to ensure the provision of high quality health care to the Jordanian patient.

Failures in assessing regional needs, procurement delays, and fixed‑price disincentives further reduced availability in certain markets.

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Health Crisis 2024 expert From pharmacies continue to disappear important drugs.
Why Russia has not yet established their production
Important medicines continue to disappear from pharmacies.
Why Russia has not yet established their production
Roszdravnadzor claims that everything is enough with the stock.
However, this is not visible on the shelves.
Recently, important drugs are regularly missing from pharmacies throughout Russia.
In the first days of April, diabetics could not find ultrafast insulin Fiasp on the shelves.
Following him, the vital drug from oncology "Uromitexan" disappeared.
At the same time, Roszdravnadzor assures: medicines continue to be produced in the country, and they are even with a reserve.
But why are they not in pharmacies and what will happen to the assortment next?
These and other questions about the "Schrödinger drugs" MSK1.RU asked experts in the field of pharmaceuticals.
And this is how they explained the disappearance of the drugs.
Failed to collect the needs
Most drugs for the treatment of cancer, diabetes, HIV and similar serious diseases are supplied to pharmacies through government channels.
To do this, the authorities must collect requests from the regions, form a tender purchase and deliver the received medicines to pharmacies.
However, as the expert of the pharmaceutical market Nikola Milevchich told MSK1.RU, in these processes there are often failures.
— If there was no such tender, this procedure does not start.
There have been no tender purchases for a long time, the remains of medicines have been bought out in pharmacies, and we see a shortage of these products in the retail chain, ” he explained.
According to the expert, delays in procurement occur for various reasons.
For example, if the Ministry of Health has not yet collected applications from the regions or they themselves did not have time to provide the necessary information.
In addition, drugs may not be purchased, because pharmacies have stocks from last year, and they are not necessary.
— The first quarter is always quite difficult, because the money is allocated for a year, and while the state will distribute the money, issue a tender, deliver goods — it ’ s a few months, — explained Milevčić in an interview with MSK1.RU. — It happens that the supplies of the fourth quarter are loaded in the first quarter in the account of the previous year.
Moreover, priority areas, products, the list of vital drugs are constantly changing.
They want to raise the price, but they can ’ t.
There are other reasons for the lack of medicines in pharmacies.
One of them is sanctions.
In 2022, many foreign pharmaceutical companies made statements about changes in their work in Russia.
Some have stopped investing, others have suspended clinical research.
Most of them stopped providing medicines.
In some places you can still find the remains of foreign drugs, but they are not endless.
And the production of analogues takes time.
And although the government has already formed a list of priority molecules that are now being actively introduced for production at Russian plants, most of the components for the production of equivalent replacements need to be brought from abroad.
Currently, Russia is 90% dependent on the supply of pharmaceutical substances from abroad.
And logistics in the last couple of years has noticeably become more complicated and, as a result, has risen in price.
Further simple mathematics.
In order not only to recapture costs, but also to earn, it is desirable for manufacturers to raise prices for their product.
But they can't do that.
Especially when it comes to those drugs that are included in the list of vital and essential (VED).
By law, they must be sold at a fixed registered price.
And there's practically no Navara here.
- Manufacturers often refuse to register and leave the market due to the fact that they do not get the opportunity to re-register their price, - said MSK1.RU Nikola Milevchich.
There are no analogues
At the same time, according to one of the sources of MSK1.RU in the field of pharmaceuticals, analogues of some drugs in Russia have not yet learned to produce.
And the original has to be transported from abroad, but through neutral intermediary countries.
- Some production facilities, of course, are localized, however, there is a wide range of drugs included in the list of VED, the production of which, for one reason or another, is impossible within the country, - said our source. - Because of this, we have to reorient the logistics chains and add neutral countries that did not exist before.
If earlier drugs could be directly brought to Russia from Switzerland or France, now neutral countries are added to this chain, which include, for example, India, China and some Asian states.
And this directly affects both the delivery time and the cost of drugs on the market.
Due to the increase in transport costs, those drugs that disappear from pharmacies are returned at much higher prices.
One of the brightest examples is the drug "Zepatir" for the treatment of hepatitis C. Until 2022, it cost up to 10 thousand rubles, and now it is 90 thousand, "the source told MSK1.RU.
Zepatir is manufactured by the American pharmaceutical company MSD.
She notified the Russian Ministry of Health of the termination of deliveries in 2023.
According to pharmacists, there are no analogues of the drug.
By this principle, drugs for ASIT therapy (allergen-specific immunotherapy, when the allergy is injected with small doses of the allergen that is the cause of the disease) - "Staloral birch", "Staloral mites", "Oralair meadow herbs" have soared in price.
Prices for it go up to 9 thousand rubles.
What About Essential Medicines
If the drug included in the list of VED disappears from pharmacies, the Ministry of Health should solve the problem of its shortage as soon as possible.
It can offer an analogue or contact the manufacturer and demand an acceleration of deliveries.
— There are funds, social groups that, with the support and consent of the Ministry of Health, make urgent purchases and supplies for certain patients with a threat to life due to the fact that there is no necessary drug.
This is a kind of force majeure, a way out of the situation, where, of course, the state must find a solution for these patients, ” said Milevcic.
When the Ministry of Health finds an analogue of the missing drug, it adds it to the list of VED.
However, even an analogue must undergo certain research and registration, so it will not work in a short time.
How long it will take, our experts have not been able to clarify.
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Health systems have deployed multiple coping strategies, including switching patients to therapeutic alternatives in the same class, rearranging regimens, and prioritizing by disease aggressiveness.

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Content: NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – While this shortage of chemotherapy drugs stretches across the country, 22News looks at how the limited amounts of potentially life-saving drugs are impacting cancer care in our area.

It’s a problem, so acute it was recognized by the Biden Administration just last month. The White House noted there’s a shortage of 15 cancer drugs due to manufacturing and supply chain issues.

22News asked Pharmacy Director Michelle Kososki at Mass General Brigham Cooley Dickinson Hospital, to rate the shortage experienced locally on a scale, 5 being a critical shortage and 1 being no shortage at all, “right now I would probably say it is a four. We only have a very small supply of one particular drug.”

Pharmacy Director Michelle Kososki said drug shortages are not uncommon in the healthcare industry however, when faced with potentially life-saving drugs it can get complicated, “Anytime there is a shortage, there’s a risk of not being able to treat patients. Obviously, that is something we want to avoid and we work to the best of our ability with creative solutions to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Nurse Manager Lisa Martensson at Mass General Care Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital told 22News, “There’s always the ethical issues of who gets the drug that’s available. It’s supply and demand as you said and looking at what folks had for their disease which ones needed to be treated faster than others based on the aggressiveness of their disease. Those things played in but it was a really difficult decision to sit down and try and decide who would get the drug. We were never in a position where we had to deny anybody.”

Cancer patient Norman Uzdavinis of Whately said he was very concerned when he first heard of the shortage, “I had wondered where in the chemotherapy I would be at, would it have to be delayed for months or years if possible.”

Uzdavinis has not had his medical care compromised but feels for those who have, “I feel for them. I know what I’m going through and that everything is here so it’s perfect for me, but there’s a lot out there that are not as fortunate. I know that.”

“Healthcare providers here were able to mitigate the shortage by using a couple of different tactics. For example, they could switch up a patient’s medication regimen,” Nurse Manager Lisa Martensson said.

“What we did do was use drugs that were in the same classification but not necessarily that specific drug. There are also drug regimens where we could switch around the order to which we gave the drugs so if there was a drug that wasn’t available we are able to do one of the drugs that was available first and do that second drug second. That was able to work out so people didn’t do without and they were able to get what they needed,” Martensson continued.

According to the FDA, the shortage started when one of the major manufacturers of the chemo drug, Accord Healthcare, a company based in India, had to shut down after problems complying with good manufacturing practices were found during an inspection. Now, there is an increased demand from other companies that make these kinds of drugs.

22News contacted some other of the manufacturers of these drugs. Pfizer said they are increasing production by about 40 percent to meet this increased demand.

Local News

Alanna Flood is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2022. Follow Alanna on X @alannafloodnews and view her bio to see more of her work.

The FDA coordinated temporary imports of chemotherapy agents like cisplatin and hospitals substituted alternate drugs to continue treatment.

Manufacturers have expanded capacity where possible, with Pfizer increasing production by 40% for some cancer drugs to address shortfalls.

U.S. policy responses include proposed federal funding of $3.26–5.11 billion and expert guidance from ASHP, though shortage tracking still relies heavily on manufacturer communications.

The EU introduced a solidarity mechanism, early‑warning systems, shelf‑life extensions, fast‑tracked approvals, and joint procurement from 2024, alongside a new Critical Medicines Alliance.

Health Canada worked with manufacturers, issued public advisories, prioritized pediatric hospital replenishment, and supported importation and compounding to bridge gaps.

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Update on Supply of Children's Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen Products

·2 min read

OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 7, 2022 /CNW/ - We share the concerns of many parents and caregivers about their inability to find pediatric/infant and children's acetaminophen and ibuprofen products, and we understand the worries associated with this. Since the start of the shortage, we have been working to take actions to ensure that parents and caregivers have what they need to take care of children.

Over the summer months, there was unprecedented demand for these products and supply had not kept pace. We are working hand-in-hand with manufacturers and suppliers to keep increasing supply to meet consumer demand and to ensure that parents and caregivers have access to these important products.

Over the last few months, Health Canada has been in direct contact with manufacturers of pediatric/infant and children's acetaminophen and ibuprofen products, provinces and territories, children's hospitals, the Canadian Pharmacists Association, the Canadian Pediatric Society, and the Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada to assess needs and avenues to expand supply, and to identify and implement shortage mitigation measures.

Minister Duclos has also personally spoken to several manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson, Haleon and PharmaScience, to reiterate the urgent need to collaborate to find immediate solutions to this shortage so that parents and caregivers can have the medicines they need to take care of their children.

As manufacturers continue to ramp up production, with some producing products at record levels, additional supply has been made available. Additionally, companies who supply Canada have been provided pathways to import foreign products, and we are reaching out to additional suppliers. While supply is increasing, we expect that products will continue to be intermittently available in retail locations. As we work to get these medicines to all who need it, children's hospitals remain a particular area of focus for replenishment.

Health Canada has issued a Public Advisory offering parents and caregivers advice and important safety information. You may also speak to a healthcare professional or pharmacist about your infant or child's needs as they can help you identify what products are effective and needed, as well as offer options for safe alternative.

As the health of infants and children remains our top priority, all options to solve this shortage are on the table. Health Canada will provide regular updates on the supply situation of children's acetaminophen and ibuprofen products in Canada.

SOURCE Health Canada

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2022/07/c4554.html

Taiwan set up a Drug Supply Notification Processing Center, established single‑window and pricing mechanisms, arranged production lines, and launched a Drug Supply Information Platform.

Title:

Content: The lack of medicine continues to burn!
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has proposed a short, medium and long-term strategy to deal with the current 5 coping mechanisms.
Journalist Yen Zhenzhen / Taipei Report
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the shortage of drugs is not a single factor, but includes supply problems, manufacturing problems, clinical demand factors, uneven distribution of drugs, drug use habits and drug prices. In addition to dealing with the relatively high clinical demand items, it is properly allocated to all levels of medical institutions and pharmacies to fully meet the needs of clinical end-use drugs.
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In the face of the shortage of drugs, Wang said, the existing health insurance uses five major coping mechanisms, including 1, a single processing window, a dedicated person to help deal with the problem of drug purchase, and contact the Food and Drug Administration to put relevant information on the website of the NHI. (4) Drug price adjustment mechanism that does not meet the cost can be re-checked according to the way of raising the price of special drugs; (5) Alternative drugs can still declare the cost, if they are not irreplaceable, they can be replaced at the same price or lower than the original prescription drug price.
In addition, Wang pointed out that in the face of the international epidemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and labor shortage, drug shortage is a problem facing all countries. In order to strengthen the stable supply mechanism of drugs in China, the Ministry of Health and Welfare continues to actively respond to the short-term strategy to solve the problem of drug shortage. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the pharmaceutical industry have made every effort to actively arrange production lines, strive for early import, increase production / import quantity, and properly distribute to all levels of medical institutions and pharmacies to fully meet the demand for clinical end use drugs.
In addition, to properly handle the issue of drug price adjustment, the Central Health Insurance Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare intends to implement the "Universal Health Insurance Cost Distribution Target System (DET)" in April this year, which will adjust the number of drug prices and adjust the quota in a suitable manner, taking into account factors such as the epidemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war and inflation.
In terms of medium-term strategy, Wang said that he will establish a permanent drug shortage treatment center and optimize drug supply information transmission.
In order to speed up the handling of drug shortage incidents, we will adopt dedicated personnel and cross-departmental cooperation to develop drug shortage prevention policies to prevent drug shortage in advance, strengthen cross-departmental data integration and proactive monitoring to detect drug shortage incidents at an early stage, and intervene early through cross-departmental cooperation to stabilize drug supply.
At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to disseminate drug supply and alternative drug information through various channels. In addition to posting on the “Drug Supply Information Platform ”, the FDA will notify medical institutions and pharmacies through VPN, and weekly letters to relevant medical associations and public associations to inform members. Management system.
In the long-term strategy section, it includes reviewing the current health insurance drug pricing policy and encouraging the production of domestically manufactured generic drugs.
Wang Bi-sheng pointed out that in the review of the current health insurance drug price policy, including the development of the price protection of indicative drugs, drug price review for the lack of drugs; start the review of drug expenditure target (DET), plan the establishment of a risk control mechanism, plan the national unified procurement trial plan; comprehensively review the health insurance drug price policy, give an appropriate price protection mechanism for necessary drugs, and also target the patent period. To encourage the production of domestic manufacturers to ensure that when there is a shortage of original pharmaceutical products, there are domestic famous drugs to respond.
Wang also stressed that the Food and Drug Administration has set up a "Drug Supply Information Platform" (https: / / dsms.fda.gov.tw /), reporting hotline (02) 27878249. If medical institutions and pharmacies have any shortage of drugs, they can go to the platform for enquiry or notification, and the department will deal with it immediately.
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Egypt strengthened oversight of distributors, increased imports of vital medicines, and operates a hotline for availability and alternatives.

Title:

Content: President of the Drug Authority reviews the efforts of the State to follow up the availability of medicines and control the
Wednesday ، 24 July 2024 09: 53 PM
Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Authority and Prime Minister
Written by Hind Mokhtar - Photo by Sulaiman Al-Atefi
Leave a comment and read the comments of the readers.
Dr. Ali Al-Ghamrawi, President of the Egyptian Pharmaceutical Authority, held a press conference today at the headquarters of the Council of Ministers in New Alamein City, in the presence of Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, during which he reviewed the efforts exerted by the State to face all challenges facing the Egyptian pharmaceutical market, as well as the stability of the availability of medicines.
During his speech, the Chairman of the Authority stressed that the availability of medicine has been gradually affected during the past months, which was linked to the challenges in obtaining foreign currency necessary to import raw materials, despite the fact that the Egyptian state has placed the pharmaceutical industry in the priorities of management, but it has gradually affected the volume of strategic stocks of a number of raw materials with high consumption rates. Market availability rates, as well as some recently observed practices related to the purchase and storage of supplied products in excess of actual need, creating an increasing and unreal demand for a number of pharmaceuticals in circulation.
He pointed out that all previous challenges to the availability of these products have been met by measures taken by the state and urgent decisions on all parties in the pharmaceutical market, which began to reconsider the pricing of some important medicines after liberalizing the exchange rate, taking into account the social aspect of citizens to raise production rates to full capacity and ensure a fair price in accordance with the government ’ s commitment to the economic dimension of the pharmaceutical industry.
He added that these measures included directing importers to increase the import quantities of a number of vital medicines, reducing the import period by converting various shipping methods to urgent air freight and direct communication with suppliers of effective and ineffective pharmaceutical raw materials to increase the import rates of all raw materials in production at local factories. Her crown.
On the scope of distribution operations, Dr. Ali Al-Ghamrawi, President of the Egyptian Drug Authority, said that the Authority has carefully followed up all distributors and major stores to review the distribution operations to pharmacies, ensure the continuous supply of items that are monitored for availability, and follow a distribution methodology based on horizontal distribution of medicines to ensure that the medicine reaches all pharmacies in all governorates. Distribution in drug stores and distribution companies through a monitoring system developed by the Authority to follow up the pumping of drugs in pharmacies.
He pointed out that the Authority continues to launch intensive inspection campaigns on all pharmacies to follow up the availability of various items and ensure that no drug item is sold, in addition to taking immediate action in case of violations, pointing out that the number of inspection visits amounted to about 55 thousand inspection visits during the first half of 2024. Supply of pharmaceutical products from distributors to pharmacies.
He pointed out that the increasing demand on some brand names for a number of traded items contributed to creating an unreal need, pointing out that the Authority pays great attention to the follow-up of the provision of all types of drugs and alternative preparations in different therapeutic groups.
He added that the Authority provides many direct communication platforms that allow the patient and pharmacist to inquire about the availability of medicines, such as the hotline 15301, the "violation" service, and the "availability" service, where the Authority receives all inquiries and complaints about the availability of any drug 24 hours a day. He explained that the Authority monitored the lack of availability of a number of these items in 19 governorates after receiving a number of reports from more than one pharmacy stating that some distributors refrained from supplying medicines to them, so the expanded inspection campaigns were able to control the market in these governorates for the monitored items.
At the end of the press conference, Dr. Ali Al-Ghamrawi stressed that the Egyptian state has developed a plan to support industry partners and other government institutions concerned with the pharmaceutical issue by taking immediate measures to provide a future strategic reserve of all medicines and important preparations with high consumption rates up to six months to meet any future challenges.

Despite mitigation, one in three U.S. health systems report delaying, canceling, or rationing care due to shortages.

To check whether your parent’s specific medications are affected now or expected to be, consult real‑time shortage databases maintained by the American Society of Health‑System Pharmacists and the FDA.

The FDA posts shortage and mitigation updates, and ASHP provides detailed drug‑by‑drug information for clinicians and patients.

For Europe, national regulators provide live lists, such as Italy’s AIFA page cataloging deficient drugs and available equivalents.

Title:

Content: Home Health Drug shortage. Palù (Aifa): “There is no real alarm”. Anti Covid vaccines: “60-70% over 60 did not receive the fourth dose, it is good that he does”

Drug shortage. Palù (Aifa): “There is no real alarm”. Anti Covid vaccines: “60-70% over 60 did not receive the fourth dose, it is good that he does”

by admin

“The fourth dose is not only 90% effective in preventing mortality but also in limiting the spread of the virus”, recalled the president Aifa speaking to SkyTg24. As for the shortage of medicines: “The shortage is an objective fact, but Italy is one step ahead of the others. There is no real alarm, also because there is coverage provided by equivalent medicines. Communication between doctors and pharmacists needs to be improved “.

12 GEN

“There has been a significant drop in the resumption of vaccinations. Among people over the age of 60, 60-70% did not make the second booster, the so-called fourth dose”.

This was stated by the president of the Italian drug agency (Aifa) George Paluhost of Sky TG24.

“It is good to have the second vaccination booster – recalls Palù – as shown by a study on prisoners published in Nature Genetics: the fourth dose is not only 90% effective in preventing mortality but also in limiting the spread of the virus”. As for therapies, “we have very effective antivirals such as remdesivir, which is given in infusion; while molnupiravir is slightly less effective but China is buying it because it is easily taken” in pills. And then, he continues, “there is paxlovid, which unfortunately interferes with some drugs and general practitioners who can prescribe it are a bit hesitant, but Aifa has taken action by publishing a table on the site with indications of possible drug-drug interactions”.

As for the shortage of medicines, the president of Aifa explains: “The shortage is an objective fact, but Italy is one step ahead of the others. There is no real alarm, also because there is coverage provided by equivalent medicines. However, improvements need to be made communication between doctors and pharmacists”.

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Palù then reported that Aifa maintains a constantly updated page of currently deficient drugs, which can be regularly visited by doctors, professionals and pharmacists. A list that today includes 3,197 drugs. “In reality – explains Palu’ – most of them are drugs that are no longer produced or are no longer on the market, but for almost all there is an equivalent or a therapeutic alternative. Of the total, 300 are somewhat missing because they are imported medicines – said Palù – but only 30 of these are truly essential because they do not find a counterpart produced by an Italian industry”. Drugs used in operating rooms, but also anti-inflammatories, cortisones, muscle relaxants and antibiotics of which, clarifies the president Aifa, “we always have valid alternatives”.

Despite this, Palù specified, “Minister Schillaci did very well to order the checks. People go to the pharmacy and don’t find the medicines they were used to, the doctor still prescribes the old medicines, there has been a request from so-called stakeholders, the minister was concerned. And I believe that what will come out of it will be more information”.

“So I want to say that perhaps this is not perfect communication. An important dialogue is needed between doctors, pharmacists and trade associations, and above all doctors who are knowledgeable and trained to access this information which is constantly available” Palù concluded.

January 12, 2023
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France’s medicines regulator publicly signals shortages and the EU is building an early‑warning network to improve transparency.

In Taiwan, the Drug Supply Information Platform and hotline offer availability data and recommended alternatives.

In Egypt, the Pharmaceutical Authority’s hotline can confirm availability and advise on substitutions.

For Canada, Health Canada advisories and local pharmacy guidance can help identify current gaps and safe alternatives.

Work with your parent’s clinicians and pharmacist to line up clinically appropriate alternatives in advance of any shortage.

When substitutions are needed, healthcare teams typically use drugs in the same therapeutic class or with the same active substance, concentration, and administration route, with doctor and pharmacist confirmation.

Title:

Content: Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
What do you do when a pharmacist offers to buy an alternative medicine?
The Health Speaker responded.
Dr. Hossam Abdul Ghaffar, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said that the World Health Organization (WHO) has a specific definition of drug shortage, which states: "When the needs of patients cannot be provided for a drug that has no equivalent, or alternative."
Abdel Ghaffar, during a telephone intervention on the program "On my Responsibility" presented by the media Ahmed Moussa, through Sada al-Balad satellite that it can be said that there is a shortage of medicine when it is not available in the places of providing medicine, whether in pharmacies or hospitals, medicine or its equivalent or alternative.
If the patient needs a specific drug, and the pharmacist said there is an alternative, the patient must take the methylation in this case "methylation" because the methylation is the difference in the trade name, but the active substance is the same active substance, and the concentration is the same concentration and if the drug that the patient needs to be taken by injection, the methylation must also be taken by injection.
“If I can ’ t find a specific trade name, in this case I can take the same for it based on the words of the doctor and the pharmacist. ”

Alternative strengths and brands of the same drug may preserve continuity of care when exact products are unavailable.

Compounding pharmacies can prepare customized formulations during pediatric analgesic shortages or similar access constraints.

For mental‑health medication transitions, clinicians can use decision‑support tools like Rx Transitions for tapering and cross‑titration planning.

Title:

Content: The overwhelming demand for mental health care and the shortage of providers specifically trained in it have left primary care providers (PCPs) on the front line of mental health services. 72% of the U.S. population lives in an area with a shortage of mental health professionals. Studies have found that PCPs treat 60% of people with depression and they write 79% of prescriptions for antidepressants. To help support this challenge, Wolters Kluwer Health today announced the launch of Rx Transitions for Mental Health for UpToDate® Pro. The medication management tool is designed to aid PCPs with prescription tapering and titration decision support and is now available with an UpToDate Pro subscription.

“PCPs have an increasingly central role in caring for patients with mental health challenges. Management is personalized, may be multimodal, and often involves pharmacological approaches. This can be difficult for time-pressed primary care providers, particularly since they may not always have specialized training,” said Dr. Peter Bonis, Chief Medical Officer, Wolters Kluwer Health. “We are committed to supporting PCPs with evidence-based decision support and are pleased to add Rx Transitions for Mental Health to help with the growing need for safe and effective mental health medication management.”

Helping clinicians reduce medication uncertainty at the point of care

Rx Transitions for Mental Health equips healthcare providers with detailed antidepressant switching decision support, for tapering off existing medications and titrating new ones. Clinicians can select from a range of medications and doses as well as the timeframe for transitioning between medications, to help them create a plan for guiding patients through the switching process. Medication transition schedules can be printed or copied into clinician notes, saving the clinician valuable transcribing time and enabling collaborative discussions with patients.

UpToDate Pro user Dianne Quibell, MD commented, “Polypharmacy is complex and pharmacodynamics would assist with an evidence-based approach. It’s hard to know if we should add [mental health] medication or switch. I always feel as if I am shooting from the hip.”

An organizational approach to mental health care

Wolters Kluwer Health also published a related Point of Care report geared for healthcare organizations administrators navigating dramatic shifts in today’s mental health services landscape. Topics in this issue include:

  • Understanding health leaders’ role in improving access to mental health services
  • Costs of unaddressed mental health care and potential returns with strategic investment
  • Promoting an environment conducive to addressing mental health challenges
  • Strategies for implementing and addressing mental health in primary care
  • Supporting clinical and drug referential content within workflows

Download the “Mental Health in Primary Care” Point of Care report for more.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer, please visit: www.wolterskluwer.com.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information, software solutions and services for professionals in healthcare; tax and accounting; financial and corporate compliance; legal and regulatory; corporate performance and ESG. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2023 annual revenues of €5.6 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 21,400 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Any switch should include monitoring for interactions, dose adjustments, and side effects, and should not be made without clinician oversight.

Title:

Content: The number of confirmed cases in the country is still high, leading to the gradual tightening of medical treatment.
Hu Dian, a pediatrician in the city forest, recently helped an 80-year-old grandmother video the consultation process, can not help but lament that in the case of more critical patients, if the consultation, adjustment of drugs, etc. are handled by the emergency doctor, "probably immediately the medical collapse", reminding the public that if there is no asthma, chest pain, shock, faint, white face cold sweat and other critical conditions, Instead of going to the emergency department, go to a clinic near your home that can be seen by video, and get medical care faster.
Hu Dian said in a personal Facebook post that 2 days ago to help an 80-year-old grandma video consultation, after consultation, the other side quickly screened positive, is also the first day of the disease, but a dose of vaccine did not hit, if according to the previous British statistics, "grandma probably has about 20% mortality", so he believes that if the other party can take the antiviral oral drug Paxlovid early, The danger can be greatly reduced.
However, Hu Dian pointed out that the drugs that Grandma usually eats, including high blood pressure drugs, anti-scorch drugs, and sleeping pills, will all fight with the oral drug Paxlovid, and must be stopped, but the other side because of the confirmed fever, blood pressure has been higher than the original, hastily stop high blood pressure drugs, anti-scorch drugs, may make blood pressure rise again, causing greater harm.
In order to solve the problem, Hu Dian Xuan on the Internet to check whether there are three kinds of drugs, finally decided to adjust the dosage of high blood pressure drugs, to replace the anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills with other drugs, and told the family how to take, because the drugs are changed, the next day he also called care, to understand the situation of Grandma's blood pressure control.
Hu Dian sighed that the process of dealing with this patient took him nearly half an hour, but at first if the grandmother's family chose to take her to the emergency department, then the emergency doctor under the pressure of more critical patients, but also took time to evaluate and calculate these complicated things, "probably immediately the medical collapse."
If the patient does not have asthma, chest pain, shock, fainting, and white and cold sweats, do not go to the emergency department. This will not only take time to wait in line, but may also speed up the mental exhaustion of the emergency doctor. If there is a medical need, you can check the clinic near your home first and go to the clinic step by step. More immediate access to medical care.
# Diagnosis # Video Consultation # Emergency # Oral Medicine # Paxlovid

Create and maintain an up‑to‑date medication list including diagnoses, allergies, all prescriptions and supplements, doses, frequencies, and purposes, and bring it to every medical or pharmacy visit.

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Content: Preparing a list of medications for patients
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Some people suffer from many diseases and need to take a variety of drugs, which is difficult to avoid confusion.
Jurong Community Hospital pharmacist Sun Shimin reminded that caregivers should prepare a list of medications for patients in case of emergencies, such as patients unable to communicate well or suddenly unable to recall what medicine they were taking.
Jurong Community Hospital pharmacist Sun Shimin recommends that the list of medications prepared by caregivers for patients should include:
• Details of the patient, such as what disease they have, whether they are allergic to any medication or food.
• List all medications, supplements, or traditional Chinese medicines that the patient is taking (including dosage, frequency, and purpose).
If the patient only takes certain medications when necessary, it should also be noted on the list.
Reminder! If there are any changes to the medicine, remember to modify the list; when you see a doctor or buy a medicine from a pharmacist, remember to bring the list.
What should a caregiver look out for when taking a patient to a clinic, hospital or pharmacy?
The pharmacist Sun Shimin recommends:
• Make sure there is enough medication to last until the next visit.
• Also keep an eye out for the amount of medication left in your home to avoid overstocking.
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Track on‑hand quantities at home to avoid both overstocking and gaps before refills.

Monitor official shortage lists regularly and speak with your pharmacist about early refills where appropriate, noting that prices can rise during shortages.

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Content: Prescription drug shortages lead to higher prices

Reporter: Andryanna Sheppard
Published: Updated:
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Millions of people in the United States depend on prescription drugs to manage pain, treat medical conditions, and even to help them stay alive. However, the country’s drug shortage is making it hard for some people to get the medication they need or pay for the drugs that are available.

Federal Drug Administration data shows 90 percent of prescriptions in the US are for generic drugs. According to the National Institutes of Health, most prescription drugs involved in shortages are generic options.

There are currently more than 250 medications on the nation’s prescription drug shortage list, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The organization says 2023 marked the worst year for shortages in about a decade.

Jessica Kahn’s two sons were diagnosed with ADD.

“I would say tricky, tricky to navigate,” Kahn described.

For the past year, Kahn said getting their medication has been frustrating.

“I have my list of all the pharmacies. I’ve even driven all the way up north to Walgreens or a CVS, some random place to go pick up a kids’ prescription,” Kahn added.

According to the FDA, prescription drug shortages are often linked to manufacturing and quality problems, delays, and discontinuations. Two drugs used in chemotherapy, Adderall, lidocaine, and amoxicillin are just a couple of the prescription medications on the shortage list.

When drug supplies are low, prices tend to increase. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, there is a 16.6 percent increase in the price of drugs involved in a shortage. And in some cases, alternative drugs were priced at least three times higher.

“You got to be very conscientious that it might not be available and that it is not an option,” Kahn advised. “No matter how many places you call, it’s not there.”

Beating the prescription drug shortage

Health experts offer these tips:

  • Check the national drug shortage list for your medication and possible alternatives.
  • Don’t wait until your prescription is almost gone to refill it.
  • Check other pharmacies for availability and if you can’t find the generic version, look for coupons or programs that offer payment help. Some patients have reported that they receive additional help to reduce some prescription costs from $100 to $10, it’s not allowed if you are already on Medicare.
  • Websites and apps like GoodRX, RX Saver and WellRX can help you find the cheapest place that has your medication and coupons for it.

Contributors to this news report include: Lindsay Dailey, Producer; Bob Walko, Editor

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.

Pharmacists and clinicians can advise on safe therapeutic alternatives and local availability, and many systems publish shortage updates and mitigation steps.

If a substitution is required, confirm equivalence with your clinician, follow prescribed dosing and timing precisely, and monitor your parent’s response.

Regular medication reviews with clinicians help detect interactions, simplify regimens, and reduce errors during transitions.

Title:

Content: Health
2024-06-04 04: 29: 56
Daily News
Support the elderly to avoid the crisis of multi-use drug admission
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It is common for the elderly to go to several specialties for follow-up. Then they have to be prescribed a variety of drugs. In some cases, they take up to 51 pills a day!
However, the use, time and dosage of each drug are different, and it is easy to confuse and lead to misuse of the drug, increasing the risk of drug effect changes and side effects, and more likely to lead to hospitalization.
More than 5 drugs are used at the same time.
Professor Wong Chi-sang, Professor of Public Health and Primary Care at CUHK School of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion, said: “For example, there are interactions between drugs that can change the efficacy of drugs or increase side effects; complex drug use plans can also reduce the patient ’ s adherence to drugs; even because they are prone to fall, poor nutrition and emotional instability after taking drugs, the risk of admission is several times higher. ” The risk of death has increased by more than ten times."
5 Ways to Reduce Adverse Reactions
Huang Chih-sheng believes that the concerted efforts of doctors, pharmacists and patients can help reduce the chance of adverse reactions after using drugs.
1.
Simplify medication regimen: use complex drugs with caution; adjust the dose or frequency of use of drugs to reduce the burden of drugs.
2.
Use a medicine box or a regular reminder: help the elderly to use the medicine on time to avoid taking too much or missing.
3.
Regular review: increase communication between doctors and patients, adjust treatment methods in a timely manner to ensure drug adaptability and effectiveness; pharmacists can help monitor and support drug use.
4.
Education and support: Pharmacists can organize seminars, etc., to provide drug education to the elderly and their families, and provide support and encouragement.
5.
Combine with other treatments: a healthy lifestyle, with exercise, psychological support, or to help reduce the dose of medication.
Enhance drug management capabilities
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Subsidy Scheme: Drug Use Support and Education Programme for the Elderly assists and educates the elderly in solving their drug problems through community outreach pharmacists.
According to the project manager, Lina Tsai, pharmacists will conduct 1-to-1 consultation with the elderly patients with multi-use drugs to help them integrate drugs, arrange medication time suitable for daily life, simplify medication use procedures such as medicine box packaging, and establish a complete drug list to facilitate caregivers and health care personnel to understand the elderly situation.
“Over the past two years, the programme has served 1,381 elderly people, of whom more than 30% have been prescribed more than 10 drugs.
According to the questionnaire survey, nearly 20% and more than 40% of service users had disobeyed and forgot to take their medication before participating in the scheme, respectively, reflecting the lack of drug education and support in the elderly community, and the scheme is able to fill the gap. "
Precision Medicine
Another reason for this is that Western medicine often uses multiple drugs to treat one disease and another to deal with side effects caused by the drug.
Geriatrics specialist Dr Chan Chun-man reminded, “If you have a list of medicines for doctors to review, it will help you adjust the prescription to achieve the purpose of accurate medication. ”
If you don ’ t have a list of medications, you can also save the drug labels and dose photos on your phone.
"Geriatricians have a better understanding of drug interactions and can act as family doctors for the elderly and coordinate the prescriptions of different specialists," added Dr Ma Han-ming, a specialist in geriatrics.
The Chairman of the Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Services Fund, Dr. Jiang Xiuzhu, hopes that the Government can pay attention to the problem of over-use of drugs by the elderly, formulate standardized and optimized prescription procedures, achieve the purpose of reducing prescriptions, and provide more resources to support the elderly to use drugs correctly and improve safety.
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Key risks to prepare for include prolonged shortages of chemotherapy agents, ADHD stimulants, sterile injectables, key antibiotics, and diabetes drugs driven by quality failures, supply chain fragility, and demand spikes.

Because shortages frequently extend beyond a year and can affect critical therapies, planning alternatives and staying connected to credible shortage trackers is essential for continuity of care.