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Now aspirin cardio. A drug used by hundreds of thousands of people in Switzerland has not been available since last week because the manufacturer is modernizing the factory. In the Swiss country where prices are high, there is about seven Swiss francs missing. It sounds ridiculous, but the problem is serious.
Drug shortages in the world are increasing. There are currently around 390 in Switzerland, which not only affects allergy medications such as Ventolin's asthma spray or aspirin cardio, which prevents heart attacks and strokes. Life-saving things are also regularly affected: agents that help patients in emergencies (such as bee sting allergies), essential antibiotics, cancer, and heart medications.
These problems are shown in these examples:
- The patient wakes up during surgery. The doctor wants to divide the precious remains and dose the anesthetic too low.
- The patient dies. The appropriate antibiotic was not available.
- Many premature and neonatal patients have cutaneous eczema due to zinc deficiency. Because of their condition, they must be perfused by infusion, but the vital trace element zinc is not available.
- The patient must go to intensive care because he mistakenly receives ten times the dose of morphine. Due to lack of supply, a different dose preparation was used
- Operations are canceled, chemotherapy postponed
All examples come from North America. Since 2007, the number of drug shortages has increased seven-fold in the United States. Some lasted only a few days, others more than two years.
In Switzerland, for example, pharmacists at the University Hospital of Basel suffer from bottlenecks: in 2013, "only" 145 medicines were affected and, in 2013, 310 bottlenecks were observed. strangulation have already been reported. "In daily practice, more and more established medications are not available," says Herbert Plagge, chief of logistics and pharmaceutical processes
Exiting the urinal next to the hospital. a sterile area
.drugshortage.ch received 1467 reports of bottlenecks throughout Switzerland last year, so far this year there are 1140 (sometimes only individual sizes are missing). Of the drugs considered absolutely necessary and covered by the federal government last year, a total of 77 drugs (mainly antibiotics and vaccines) were not available on average for 130 days each.
In the case of pharmaceuticals, Western countries have long struggled with cheaper producing countries. For example, the active ingredients of most antibiotics in the world today come from a few manufacturers in China and India. If it burns in a factory – as it happened in 2016 – there is a global shortage. And just a few weeks ago, a carcinogen was discovered in the popular antihypertensive drug, valsartan. The contaminated medicine comes from a Chinese manufacturer. As a result, generics have been recalled in 22 countries. In Switzerland, this concerns four companies. The substance produced in Europe is not affected.
What Asian inspectors sometimes find unimaginable here: in an Indian plant that was producing drugs for spraying, the open drain of the urinal was six meters from the sterile manufacturing area. When a factory is closed, its competitors can not produce faster. Because production plans are usually made for months.
Rising Costs and Lower Margins
What this may mean in figures has been demonstrated in a study published in the American journal "Jama" in 2017: According to a crisis of 39, adrenaline, 26 US hospitals, the in February 2011 began, 0.7% more seriously ill. Adrenaline stabilizes the circulation in shock. Extrapolated to the United States, thousands of people have died – although it is not known if this was due to lack of adrenaline or replacement therapy.
The main reasons for the difficulties of delivery are the increasing pressure on costs and the decline in profit margins. As a result, bottlenecks in delivery hardly affect expensive drugs. "We expect the lowest prices while maintaining the best quality.That does not work," says Plagge.His advice: "Question the price policy.In exchange, manufacturers should guarantee that they reliably supply the small Swiss market. "
Medicines for children are removed
In 2005, there remained 22 drugs containing the proven antibiotic and essential cotrimoxazole, Ten years later there was three more adult preparations on the Swiss market and (temporarily) none for children Due to the low market share, children's medicines are often the first to be eliminated.
Choke bottlenecks are generally unpredictable for pharmacists A manufacturer's reporting requirement only applies to the 70 substances that the federal government considers essential. death is very unsatisfactory. And that does not seem to improve, "says Ueli Haudenschild, head of the Federal Office for the Supply of Economic Lands
Importation as a miracle solution
] Plagge and his colleagues need about 1.5 hour per month Medium throttling neck for publishing. "Until now, we have almost always found a solution – there has never been any harm to patients," he says.The solution is usually to quickly find other providers. , to import drugs from abroad or to store more.
With aspirin cardio, the manufacturer Bayer now ensures faster production than expected. "Bayer regrets the inconvenience this implies for patients, doctors and pharmacists. We recommend patients to consult their doctor to discuss other treatment options, "said spokeswoman Irene Stephan. Of the other five manufacturers of the same active ingredient, two can still deliver right now – wondering how long. (SonntagsZeitung)
created: 21.07.2018, 19:09
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