Warnings about drugs shortages for pharmacies are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’

10 comments

1. Well I’m fucked then if two of the shortages are gonna be thyroid and epilepsy. I take thyroid hormone for under active thyroid and pregabalin (or Lyrica brand name) for fibromyalgia and Pregabalin is one drug that if you just stop taking it or drop too much too quickly it can royal fuck you up. I found that out the hard way when trying to lower my dosage too much too quickly cos I thought it stopped working. Not only did my pain increase ten fold but my mental really went down the toilet too. Like I was close to suicide bad.

2. >shortage of HRT

   Maybe the media should be less critical of being able to order HRT online from abroad then

3. When your trans and ADHD medication shortages in this country are *real*.

   ADHD meds shortages are the worst by far, cos they are the hardest to navigate. ADHD meds are stimulants and because you could get a really crappy high if you took a bunch they are amber rated.

   Amber rating for meds comes with a whole bunch of conditions attached that affect who/where they can be manufactured/distributed and how they are retailed. One of the most frustrating condition is that meds must be prescribed in the precise format that the prescription is written. If you are prescribed 2x 30mg Elvanse to be taken in the morning, you must be provided with 30mg capsules.

   What if the pharmacy has a glut of 20mg capsules and can’t source any 30mg ones? My niece is 7 and I’d back her to work out a solution to this maths problem, medical regulations says you can’t take 3 20mg capsules and you are going home empty handed. You need to go back to your doctor for a new prescription. What happens if those 20mg capsules are sold to others in the mean time? Shit out of luck, back to the doctor. This is clearly a stupid situation but it’s real.

   The amount of wasted labour that occurs in the NHS and wider U.K. health sector when there’s ADHD meds shortages is simply phenomenal, and shortages are made worse and more likely by regulations around their manufacture and distribution cos of their safety rating when you can get uppers that are actually designed for fun without trying in any city in the U.K..

4. Talk lately of conscription, having a store of food and water, and now drug shortages. I wonder if the writing on the wall to those in charge is that shits really going south and soon.

5. Good job they are passing a law to give plods powers to break into your property and confiscate any drug-making apparatus if they suspect it might be used in a future crime (i.e. to make chemicals that were entirely within the right of any man to synthesise 110 years ago when this country was the leading light of strength and culture in the world).

6. No Magnesium Sulphate/Phenol foot paste anywhere in the country (spinter removal).

7. Needed to get a prescription eczema creme for my 5 month old, no stock in the entire country.

   Guess I don’t need sleep for the next 2 years so that’s cool.

   We ended up getting the adult strength dose on Dr’s orders, so not the end of the world but not exactly great for the country.

8. I work in community pharmacy and my day now is regularly being screamed at by patients for not being able to get stock.

   The follow on problem is people leaving the industry. I know so many pharmacists who have quit or gone to other sectors.

   It’s a fucking shit show. Please please please be nice to the pharmacy staff. Honestly it’s a horrible time to work in it. When I locumed i saw so many staff on the edge of nervous breakdowns.

9. Just give everyone LSD and Shrooms and bottles of MD 20/20.

10. What’s interesting is that this article doesn’t really touch on why there is a shortage or the fact that there is a global shortage of medication that’s impacting pretty much every country. If you are struggling to get something, there is a good chance that many other people with the same condition across the world are struggling to get the same thing.

    The only real solution is to increase manufacturing locally and subsidize the costs.