Global issues are factor but experts say there are problems peculiar to Britain such as rising costs post-Brexit
NHS medicines shortage putting people at risk, pharmacists warn‘The worst I’ve known it’: the struggle to get vital medicines
The latest drug to be in short supply in the UK is a treatment for epileptic seizures. A notification from the Department of Health and Social Care last Wednesday informed doctors and pharmacists that Tegretol – or carbamazepine – 200mg prolonged release tablets would not be available until mid-January. It was said to be of “medium impact”, as such supply shortages go. The use of low-risk therapeutic alternatives, unlicensed imports or alternative strengths or formulations were the ways to proceed.
An inconvenience on this occasion but a week earlier practitioners had been informed that supply of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, used by those with type 2 diabetes, would be problematic throughout 2024, and that doctors should immediately stop prescribing it to those seeking to lose weight. This time there was also a national patient safety alert requiring “action to be taken by healthcare providers to reduce the risk of death or disability”.
Continue reading…Global issues are factor but experts say there are problems peculiar to Britain such as rising costs post-BrexitNHS medicines shortage putting people at risk, pharmacists warn‘The worst I’ve known it’: the struggle to get vital medicinesThe latest drug to be in short supply in the UK is a treatment for epileptic seizures. A notification from the Department of Health and Social Care last Wednesday informed doctors and pharmacists that Tegretol – or carbamazepine – 200mg prolonged release tablets would not be available until mid-January. It was said to be of “medium impact”, as such supply shortages go. The use of low-risk therapeutic alternatives, unlicensed imports or alternative strengths or formulations were the ways to proceed.An inconvenience on this occasion but a week earlier practitioners had been informed that supply of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, used by those with type 2 diabetes, would be problematic throughout 2024, and that doctors should immediately stop prescribing it to those seeking to lose weight. This time there was also a national patient safety alert requiring “action to be taken by healthcare providers to reduce the risk of death or disability”. Continue reading…