Medicine shortages: what to know and how to manage them.

Why are there shortages?

There are many causes impacting the local supply of medicines. Australia imports 90% of our medicines from overseas, and we only consume 2% of the global medicine market which can put us at the “bottom of the food chain” when it comes to supply.

Other causes include:

• Natural disasters and impacts of war – can cause limited access to raw materials and manufacturing sites, and high costs of input like fuel can restrict and add pressure on manufacture, supply and overall costs.

• High demand - specific drugs have seen an increase in demand due to an increase in health issues across the world, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obesity.

• Panic buying - People concerned about supply tend to stockpile certain medicines.

• “Just in time” supply – Concerns about holding too much stock can result in pharmacists and wholesalers reducing their stock holdings. This could be to avoid losing money on out-of-date items and other relevant factors.

• Medicine profitability – a number of manufacturers have withdrawn drugs from the Australian market due to price reform pressures and lowered profitability.

What is the Government doing to address the issue?

The government works with the sector in various ways to manage supply:

• Active monitoring of supply in response to international developments, i.e. in the Middle East.

• Manufacturers are required to tell the government if there is not enough medicine to supply normal demand in Australia.

• Investment in a mandatory 4-6 month minimum stock holding in Australia by suppliers of essential PBS medicines (around 3,000 individual medicines), held in wholesalers and pharmacies around the country. This does exclude private prescription medicines however.

• The TGA can allow temporary medication substitution by doctors and pharmacists – many medicines can be substituted with another medicine type, brand, dose or pack size.

• The TGA allowing certain medicines to be prescribed for certain conditions only.

• The temporary importation of medicines approved in other countries by the TGA.

• Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) medicines are price protected meaning patients only pay the copayment. This does not change even if medicine costs rise.

What to do if there is a shortage of your medication:

Call Health Partners on 1300 113 113 – we’ll do the ringing around for you:

If you are having trouble locating a hard-to-find item Health Partners can help by locating stock within our participating pharmacy network. We can also help provide you with information on current drug shortages.

Speak with your pharmacist - they may be able to:

• Change the brand of medicine as multiple brands often use the same active ingredient
• Source variables of the medicine from different wholesalers (there are 4+ wholesalers in Australia)
• In some cases, they can substitute a higher or lower strength of the product. It will mean you need to take the medicine differently to get the same dose. This can be confusing and risky for some patients, especially if they take multiple medicines, so always consult your pharmacist or doctor beforehand
• Place you on a waiting list and ask you to return at a later time to collect your medicine if the pharmacy does not have your or any brands in stock

Speak with your doctor – your doctor can provide the next best alternatives for your condition. It might mean:

• Prescribing a different brand of medicine using the same active ingredient
• Prescribing a different medicine altogether. These may/may not be PBS subsidised.

Shop around - if the medicine is a non-prescription item or over the counter medicine, there is normally more than one brand of the same drug. For example, Paracetamol 500mg can be known as Panadol, Panamax, Tylenol etc

Health Partners Participating Pharmacies - Call your local Health Partners pharmacy or other pharmacies in the area that are in the Health Partners Scheme so you can still make the most of your pharmacy benefits

Check the TGA website for more information on medicine shortages.

Our medicine supply chain is designed to handle short outages of medicines so there shouldn’t be too many issues in the short to medium term. Speak with your pharmacist and doctor about what you can do to manage your medicines.

Health Partners Pharmacy Support Service

If you’re having problems sourcing your medicine, call us on 1300 113 113 and let us help you.

• Pharmacy benefits - As a Health Partners Extras member, you save on scripts^ at our participating pharmacies in South Australia. We can check if your prescription is covered under the pharmacy benefits. On eligible covers, you’ll only pay up to $40 per private or compounding prescription, or up to $20 per PBS prescription (not already subsidised by the Government), with the gap covered up to your annual limit.

Sources:

Medicine Shortages Information For Consumers | Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
The Iran War Disrupts Supplies: Will It Affect Access to Medicine? | The Conversation
TGA Not Concerned About War-Caused Drug Shortages | Medical Republic
Fuel Shortages Pose Emerging Risks For Pharmacy | Australian Pharmacist

Health Partners doesn’t cover any consultation fees that may be associated with the services mentioned in this article. The information contained here is of a general nature and does not take into account your personal medical situation. The information is not a substitute for independent professional medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or used for therapeutic purposes. Should you require specific medical information, please seek advice from your healthcare practitioner. Health Partners does not accept any liability for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of or reliance on the information provided. While we have prepared the information carefully, we can't guarantee that it is accurate, complete or up-to-date. And while we may mention goods or services provided by others, we aren't specifically endorsing them and can't accept responsibility for them.

*20% Discount applies on the pharmacies full item price of most non-prescription products on presentation of Health Partners membership card for members with extras products, but excludes agency items (i.e. X-Lotto), selected franchise brands (i.e. Chanel) and schedule 3 recordable medicines. Pharmacies may choose, at their discretion, to apply the discount to items already discounted. A pharmacy is not required to honour their loyalty club program discount & the Health Partners discount in the same transaction. Unlimited use. Waiting periods may apply. Conditions are in accordance with agreements held with our preferred pharmacies, which may change from time to time.

^PBS prescriptions that are not already subsidised by the Government and Private and compounding prescriptions, no benefits apply to Government subsidised scripts. Speak to your pharmacist to understand if your script is subsidised. Including vaccinations, hormone implants, allergen implants and IVF-associated drugs.