Hundreds of medicines used by Irish patients out of stock as shortages continue

Hundreds of medicines used by Irish patients are currently out of stock as shortages continue. 

That's according to the Medicine Shortage Index, prepared by industry experts Azure Pharmaceuticals with data made publicly available by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA). 

Of 228 medicines currently unavailable in Ireland, 12 are reportedly listed on the World Medical Organisation's (WHO) 'critical medicines' list, including Amoxicillin and Penicillin antibiotics and a medicine used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia. 

Out-of-stock drugs reportedly include Codeine-based products like Solpadeine, Ibuprofen, as well as medicines for sleep disorders, seizures, blood pressure and diabetes, among others. 

The index found a shocking 41% rise in shortages in just six weeks, with 16 additional medicines recorded as out-of-stock in the past three weeks alone. 

Managing Director of Azure Pharmaceuticals, Sandra Gannon, said the scale of shortages "continues to worsen" with a considerable knock-on impact on patients and those who care for them. 

She said, "Our analysis shows that since we began collecting the data in October, the number of medicine shortages has risen by 28%. There are international factors at play but yet again, we are seeing Ireland out-of-sync with other countries. Primary among these is price differential. Ireland is paying up to four times less than neighbouring countries and as a result, the medicine supply is following the money.

"There is an element of misguided hope that the end of flu season and a rise in temperatures will make medicine shortages disappear. But the evidence shows that since the end of 2019, this problem was coming. Hope has no place in policy making. It is time to meaningfully engage. Patients and pharmacists deserve no less." 

She pointed to recent comments by the Executive Director of the European medicines agency (EMA), Emer Cooke, in an RTÉ interview. 

Gannon said, "The EMA has a pan-European remit informed by international insights. For its Executive Director to therefore identify price as one of the contributory factors to medicine shortages is a highly significant moment in this debate. Price is a policy measure, not a regulatory one.

"It is premature to say the Department of Health is burying its head in the sand. But there are signs that it is adopting a stance that is contrary to prevailing opinion, its own evidence, and the actions of other countries.

"Naturally, government will want to control costs, particularly given the strains on health spending. It should and it can. The Department finds itself in a position to actually reduce costs while simultaneously addressing prices." 

Gannon believes pricing must be considered as a leading factor when it comes to security of supply. 

She continued: "Informed by the EU commissioned report on medicine shortages, the Department of Health could save money annually by deploying existing policy measures available to them.

"By extending the ‘basket of prices’ approach to older medicines, just as we currently do for the reimbursement of new medicines, Ireland would pay the average of 14 other EU countries. This, along with other measures, would enable manufacturers to pivot and thus alleviate shortages."