Number of medicines hit by supply issues jumps 45% so far this year

Cholesterol and blood pressure medicines are among those missing from shelves as the number of drugs in short supply in Ireland now exceeds 300.

The latest figures from the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), as analysed by generics manufacturer Azure Pharma, show a 45 per cent jump in the number of medicines in short supply since the start of the year to 307 different products.

Azure’s Medicines Shortage Index also notes what it called “severe shortages” of low dose aspirin and nebulising solution used by people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

It comes just days after it emerged that diabetes patients are having to ration their use of insulin due to a shortage of one of the most commonly used products in Ireland.

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The index highlights persisting instability in Ireland’s medicine supply, Azure said, adding that its latest analysis indicated that 17 formulations of statin were currently out of stock and that over a third of out-of -stock medications have only one supplier.

“We have now exceeded the milestone marker of 300, with 307 medicines out ofstock,” said Azure Pharma chief executive Sandra Gannon. “We started reporting this problem when the number of shortages stood at approximately 165. The trend is clear. Recent research illustrated the worsening impact of the issue, with 60 per cent of the public impacted by shortages in the past year alone.”

She said countries that had adjusted their approach in response to supply problems were faring better than those who have not. “Regrettably, at a policy level, Ireland is yet to acknowledge the cause and effect of this problem. On that basis things look set to get worse before they get better,” said Ms Gannon, who has argued that low prices for generic medicines are chasing suppliers out of markets.

The HSE insists price is not an issue, noting recently that there were just 36 medicines where suppliers say they are no longer able to supply the Irish market at the price previously agreed – less than 0.01 per cent of the almost 8,000 reimbursable medicines in the Irish market.

HPRA director Gráinne Power has said consistently that the issues affecting the Irish market are common across Europe and warned against reading too much into the figures because the HPRA actively encouraged early reporting.