Numerous signals about shortage of medicines in pharmacies

Hundreds of signals have been received about critical shortages of certain medicines in pharmacies. The most serious is the unavailability of corticosteroid for children's inhalers, for which there is no substitute. There is also almost unavailability of a medicine for treatment of epilepsy, eye drops to regulate eye pressure, diabetes medicine and low molecular weight heparins. The question is why certain medicine have become unavailable?

Stefka's 5-year-old daughter has asthma. In order to breathe normally she often uses corticosteroid for inhalations.

"Without this medicine, my child cannot live and breathe," Stefka Stoyanova explained.

For about a year, Stefka has had difficulty finding the medicine in pharmacies in Pleven.

"Last month I could not get the medicine prescribed to my child. Sometimes we take it from Greece, my mother-in-law buys it from there. Other times she finds it in Turkey," says the mother.

The Medicines Agency explains that the quantities for the Bulgarian market are insufficient.

Since the end of last year, an electronic system monitors the daily stock of about 3,000 medicines, which are covered by the health fund. Every week, it generates an export ban list if the quantities of a drug in pharmacies drops below 65%.

"Until March, the formula was set in one way whereby between 290 and 350 products fell into this list," clarified Bogdan Kirilov, Director of Bulgarian Drug Agency.

After an audit of the system, the formula was changed.

"Currently, between 60 and 80 products fall under the list on a weekly basis," Kirilov added.

The caretaker health minister wants the old formula to be brought back.

"With the change of a formula there, not to explain it in detail, about 240-250 medicines could come back for monitoring. Then we observe, if the availability in the pharmacy network falls below 65% accordingly these medicines are stopped for re-export," said Dr. Asen Medjidiev, caretaker health minister.

Pharmacists and parallel traders argue that bringing back the old formula will not solve the problem of unavailability or shortage of medicines in pharmacies.

"Now if the old formula is brought back, it will be in violation of the legislation," said Margarita Grozdanova, a member of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union's board.

"Returning to it will not change anything, except that it will give misleading information," said the director of the Bulgarian Association for the Development of Parallel Trade in Medicines, Boryana Marinkova.

Pharmacists want to receive access to warehouse stocks through the system.

"There is talk that the warehouses are piling some quantities and giving selectively to pharmacies," said Margarita Grozdanova.

"At the moment we are also starting these checks en masse to see what are the stocks in the warehouses, because it may turn out that they are simply not being replenished in the pharmacy network from there either," caretaker Minister of Health Dr. Assen Medjidiev said.

By law, Bulgaria maintains the lowest prices for prescription drugs.

"Which in turn is a prerequisite for interest to secure, from other countries medicines, that are in Bulgaria," said Kirilov.

The association of parallel traders believes that the problem of missing medicines can be solved by rapid import from Europe, but for this purpose a special permit is required.

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