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Date Published: 01/02/2023

ARCHIVED - Almost 700 medications in short supply in Spain

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

The drug shortage in Spain has worsened by 150% in the last year

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Almost 700 medications in short supply in Spain

The winter months are when many of us suffer from colds and flu and turn to our local pharmacy to stock up on antibiotics and over-the-counter remedies. But it seems that now is really not a good time to feel under the weather in Spain, since at the latest count, some 671 drugs are in seriously short supply – or sold out altogether – in pharmacies across the country.

This supply shortage has increased by a worrying 150% and has reached some very common medications such as different brands of amoxicillin, a popular antibiotic, Ozempic, a treatment for type 2 diabetes and Metalyse, a thrombosis drug.

However, those in the shortest supply in 2022 were prescription drugs for the nervous system, followed by cardiovascular, digestive and respiratory meds.

The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) considers there to be a supply problem when “the available units of a medicine in the pharmaceutical channel are lower than the national consumption needs,” and this is caused by a variety of factors.

Drug availability in Spain could be yet another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic since so many come from Asian countries, which are reporting ongoing “raw material problems” including a lack not only of the active ingredients needed to make the medication, but also of cardboard for packaging.

That’s according to Antonio Blanes, director of the pharmaceutical services of the CGCOF, who also blames the cheap price of pharmaceuticals in Spain for their scarcity.

The advice from the expert to consumers is not to panic, since many of the missing medications can be substituted with generic brands so that patients won’t have to interrupt their treatment.

"The problem of finding it is greater for pharmacists than for citizens to have the treatment," he added, while insisting that although it is a concern, "the situation is under control."

See also: Spain increases minimum wage by 8 per cent

Image: Pixabay

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