The president of the Union of Community Pharmacists’ Unions warns of the shortage or risk of shortage of “nearly 4,000 medications”. Antibiotics and antidiabetics are part of the list.
France could face a new shortage of medicines this winter. The president of the Union of Community Pharmacists’ Unions (USPO), Pierre-Olivier Variot, alerted, Thursday October 26 on franceinfo, about shortages or risks of stock shortages which would concern “nearly 4,000 medications”. He specifies that some breakups will only last a month or two, but that others will be long-term “and then it becomes dramatic”. Among the drugs affected are amoxicillin and cortisone. The shortage will also concern “anti-cancer drugs, anti-hypertensives, analgesics, anti-diabetics”, notes Pierre-Olivier Variot.
“Disparities in access at the pharmacy level”
The National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) already warned at the end of August of the 3,500 declarations of shortage or risk of shortage of medicines. According to the ANSM, pharmacies were in tight supply, from October 18, on many medications often prescribed in winter. The agency’s general director, Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil, mentions “disparities in access at the pharmacy level” for some molecules such as amoxicillin, on franceinfo on October 4. An observation shared by the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, who deplores the “over-stocks” of certain “big pharmacies”, on France Inter. Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil nevertheless qualifies the concerns by recalling that “if we focus on the molecules that we use during winter pathologies, (…) we are in situations where the stocks are there, at the industrial level” . Salbutamol was in fact the only winter drug with a lower stock than normal during the ANSM census on October 18.
What measures are taken to compensate for disruptions?
The Minister of Health announced “the decision to give back to those who distribute the responsibility that all pharmacies, including the smallest, have access to these stocks”. The ANSM also published a winter epidemic preparation plan, commissioned by the government. According to franceinfo, the agency may decide to “import medicines, limit exports abroad of molecules produced in France, or even authorize masterful preparations”. Hospital pharmacies could also be affected by this measure, declared Aurélien Rousseau in Les Échos. He also announced, in August, a 10% increase in the price of amoxicillin against the assurance of manufacturers to hold the necessary stocks. On France Inter, the minister spoke of the relocation “in France of the production of 25 strategic drugs” which would make it possible to limit shortages. He also indicated that the government was working to improve the availability of “450 essential medicines”.
Last winter, France had already experienced supply problems where certain drugs such as amoxicillin and paracetamol had sometimes been out of stock for a long time. More than 3,700 medicines were affected by shortages and risks of shortages in 2022. In order to limit the risks this year, the government also launched a double vaccination campaign against Covid-19 and the flu at the end of October.