MP criticises drug shortages
pharmafile | June 25, 2012 | News story | Sales and Marketing | ABPI, Labour, NHS, Whitehead, shortages
A Labour MP has attacked major drug shortages in England that are seeing fewer drugs available to patients in the NHS.
Huw Irranca-Davies, Labour MP for Ogmore, is calling for action over medicine shortages which are being caused by some groups exporting drugs to other European countries.
These exports have become a major problem for the industry, as some wholesalers and pharmacists in England are selling medicines to other countries in order to make a profit.
To combat this, the industry has a set quota of drugs that it will supply to the NHS, but this limitation – combined with ongoing exports – has fuelled a major drug shortage in some areas of England.
Irranca-Davies submitted a freedom of information request after a woman in his constituency said her breast cancer drug was out of stock. More than 60 NHS trusts in England and Wales responded to his inquiry, with four out of five reporting delays in obtaining stocks.
“There are now between 70 and 80 drugs that are on shortage lists and it’s been the case for two or three years,” he told BBC Radio Wales, adding that drugs for Alzheimer’s were among the hardest hit.
“Some of the manufacturers justifiably say they’re producing more than 150% of what’s needed. It’s more profitable to sell these overseas because of the exchange rate – this isn’t a new phenomenon, it has happened before.
“What they do in other European countries is they find one way or another to make their own patients the first priority.”
The practice is legal under European provisions for the free movement of goods.
Irranca-Davies said that attempts to solve the problem voluntarily had failed, adding it was time for the UK government to give NHS patients priority over exports through a Patient Service Obligation or other measure.
Quotas ‘a necessity’
The ABPI has defended its use of quotas, saying they are necessary to protect the industry from exports.
Its chief executive Stephen Whitehead said: “Quotas are a necessity, and […] removing quotas would only exacerbate the situation.
“Quotas are a legitimate means of ensuring that UK patients receive the medicines they need. Where they are used, quotas aim to ensure that pharmacists do not present excessive orders to be fulfilled.
“We know that quotas are not the perfect answer to the problem – they are a sticking plaster, not a cure.”
Whitehead said that removing quotas would not benefit patients, but it could cause ‘great harm’.
“The only group who would benefit are the small percentage of pharmacists and wholesalers who actively sell medicines intended for UK patients abroad for a profit,” he concluded.
Ben Adams
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