According to a list published by the German Federal Institute for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, 299 medicines are in short supply in the country. The institute attributes this bottleneck to insufficient deliveries from countries such as China and India.
Germany is facing a drug supply crisis.
According to a list published by the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, 299 medicines are in short supply in the country.
The reason given for this is the lack of deliveries from East Asian countries.
Many pharmaceutical companies outsource drug production to countries such as China and India due to high costs.
Insufficient medicines from these countries and prolonged procurement times make access to medicines difficult.
Pharmacists say they are experiencing problems especially with pediatric medicines, cardiovascular medicines, insulin and antibiotics.
Patients can wait a long time for medicines that are not available, sometimes up to 2 weeks.
This leads to prolonged treatment periods, especially for pediatric patients.
Companies withdraw from production
One of the two main companies producing antipyretics in Europe has also announced that it is pulling out of production due to high costs.
As a solution to the drug shortage, the German Pharmacists’ Association proposes measures to increase the production of medicines in Europe and to ban the export of important and inaccessible medicines.
