Medicine shortages

[Inamoment]

Interestin File on Four about medicine manufacture and shortages, should be on bbc sounds

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Sorry is this a TV or radio programme?

[Inamoment in reply to MichaelJH]

Radio, it's a radio four programme

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Inamoment]

I have listened to it now. Onthe first attempt some spammer site came up with you had to pay a registration fee! So quick exit and retry after virus scan!

I felt sorry for the lady who could not get the appropriate epilepsy medication for a while!

[Inamoment in reply to MichaelJH]

Her position was awful wasn't it.

[dunestar]

A lot of media interest about this issue at the moment. I guess the reasons for the shortages will be complicated and different for each drug. But it is very worrying situation and I haven't heard much reassurance that the NHS is tackling the problem head on. It seems to be being left to pharmacists to try and sort out supply when the problem seems to be more systemic with how the drugs market works.

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to dunestar]

One of the main issues that came up was globalisation and the fact aot of manufacturing has moved East. One of my drugs is manufactured in the UK but two batches in the summer has obviously been exported outside the country, packaged in Portugal, and then reimported, Portuguese days of week overlaid with English ones and boxed by a minor UK pharmaceutical company. Makes little sense and must have a large carbon footprint!