Asthma inhalers and epilepsy drugs among 247 medicines now out of stock in Irish pharmacies

Aug 25, 2023

Asthma inhalers are among growing lost of medicine shortages. Stock image

Pharmacy shelves remain without several medicines as asthma inhalers, nasal spray and 11 eye-drop products have been added to the growing list of drug shortages.

A new trend has emerged, with many pharmacists finding it difficult to source treatments that are stored in or administered using plastic components.

A survey of pharmacists carried out by the Irish Pharmacy Union last week found six in 10 feared the difficulty in getting hold of key medicines – particularly for epilepsy and diabetes – was putting the health of patients at risk.

The latest medicine shortage index shows there are 247 drugs out of stock. This is an increase of 19 medicines since the end of last month. ​

​Medicines in short supply in the past week included those that treat epilepsy and those for high blood pressure, according to the index prepared by industry expert Azure Pharmaceuticals, which analyses data from the Health Products Regulatory Authority.

It shows antibiotics amoxicillin and penicillin and commonly used over-the-counter medicines such as Benylin and Dioralyte are still difficult for patients to find.

Of the 247 medicines currently unavailable, 13 are listed on the World Health Organisation's "critical medicines" list.

Sandra Gannon, Azure chief executive, said medicine shortages would continue unless political will was shown in Ireland to take measures to meaningfully tackle the issue.

"One of the means we have to protect our domestic supply of stock, to prevent these important medicines from running out, is through pricing," Ms Gannon said.

"Other European countries have already recognised this fact and taken measures to mitigate against situations where their stocks run out. For example, Portugal recently raised its pricing by up to 5pc for cheap medicines.

"Weaknesses in the supply chain alone highlights the imperative of revisiting the pricing framework for medicines to protect supply of stock and protect Irish patients."

Commenting on the perception that medicine shortages are a result of exceptional circumstances and are a one-off situation, Ms Gannon pointed to the level of EU activity on the topic, as well as the focus of the European Medicines Agency on medicine shortages as evidence that this problem was not going away without serious intervention and planning.

"There's an awareness in other European countries that market related factors need to be tackled," she said.

"Medicines shortages are not just winter specific, and shortages are not only occurring as a result of exceptional circumstances. There are systemic factors that need resolution.

"Each patient has different needs and reducing the problem down to exceptional circumstances alone diminishes the quality of life impact that each patient experiences with their illness."​