A SERIOUS shortage of prescription medications commonly taken by older Australians is endangering patient health, according to the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
The peak body has warned that supply issues over the past 12 months has resulted in pharmacies having to source medication from alternate wholesalers, neighbouring pharmacies or hospitals; or to supply patients with different brands.
The effect of the shortage could range from modest inconvenience to the worst case scenario - an interruption in treatment, said Guild communications director Greg Turnbull.
"Over the past 12 months there have been supply issues with a range of PBS medicines including antibiotics and antidepressants as well as medicines for angina and blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis and Parkinson's Disease.
"Many shortages are ongoing and pharmacists are doing everything that they can to supply patients with their usual medicine or a suitable alternative. This often requires a pharmacist to source the medicine from alternate wholesalers, or even neighbouring pharmacies or hospitals. They may need to supply different brands than they would normally stock and sometimes when there are no alternative brands available, they work with prescribers to identify a different medicine suitable for the patient.
"This can all add up to substantial inconvenience as patients or their carers may need to be referred to another pharmacy or asked to come back at a later time to allow for the alternative medicine to be delivered or for the pharmacist to discuss options with the prescriber.
Continually changing brands can be confusing for some people and there is the potential for poor health outcomes if a person doesn't use their medicine correctly, or worst case scenario, their treatment is interrupted because they have difficulty accessing the medicine they need.
- Greg Turnbull, Pharmacy Guild of Australia
"Continually changing brands can be confusing for some people and there is the potential for poor health outcomes if a person doesn't use their medicine correctly, or worst case scenario, their treatment is interrupted because they have difficulty accessing the medicine they need.
Mr Turnbull said the incidence of PBS shortages has become so significant that members have contacted the Guild concerned that the public may have the perception that medicine shortages are due to pharmacies not efficiently managing the stock levels in their dispensaries.
He said many patients and their support organisations were not aware of the extent of PBS shortages due to the efforts pharmacists go to in order to supply their medicines.
"We don't want to create any panic or undue concern as for the most part to date, pharmacists and prescribers have been working together to minimise the impact on patients.
"While we are not trying to blame anyone for the shortages, we want to make sure that the Government is aware of our concerns and is taking active steps to minimise the consequences from a medicine shortage on the health of the Australian public.
"We have brought this matter to the attention of the Commonwealth Department of Health and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) with a request to urgently convene a stakeholder group inclusive of consumers to assess the situation and determine how best to communicate and manage PBS shortages," said Mr Turnbull.
The Department of Health confirmed to The Senior that the government was aware of global supply issues with a range of medicines and had implemented new legislation which made it mandatory to report shortages.
"From January 1, 2019, it is mandatory for suppliers to report shortages or discontinuations of all prescription medicines and some over the counter medicines to the Therapeutic Goods Administration," said a spokesperson.
"In most instances, pharmacists are able to manage a medicine shortage for their patient by providing a generic brand for the same medicine or the doctor may be able to prescribe a suitable alternative medicine.
"Information provided will allow the TGA to liaise with alternate suppliers where possible to increase supply of their products to cover market loss.
"Mandatory reporting of medicine shortages does not prevent these disruptions, but early identification and notification will benefit Australian consumers."
More information about medicine shortages is available on the website of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) athttps://www.tga.gov.au/publication/management-and-communication-medicine-shortages-and-discontinuations-australia.