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Ongoing drug shortages plague pharmacists
Manitoba pharmacists are spending more time trying to locate a supply of certain prescription medications due to an ongoing drug shortage.
Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association registrar Ronald Guse said drug shortages have been occurring more often, prompting pharmacists to spend more time contacting wholesalers or other pharmacies trying to find a supply to dispense to patients.
In a report released this week, the Canadian Pharmacists Association found the overwhelming majority of pharmacists across the country had trouble locating medications to fill a prescription during their last shift and over the last week. The survey was conducted in September, and 427 pharmacists responded.
"It’s happening more often," Guse said.
"For the most part, pharmacists have been very resourceful in securing either the product itself for the patient or referring them to a pharmacy where it is available."
Tache Pharmacy manager Gregory Harochaw said the shortages are more of an inconvenience, and haven’t had an impact on patient care. He said his St. Boniface pharmacy has been short of a variety of drugs over the past year including an anti-depressant used as a sleeping aid, a second line antibiotic, and a product to control epilepsy.
Harochaw said a patient has never been forced to go without the proper medication, and the pharmacy has phoned the patient’s physician to alter their dosage to a strength that’s available or prescribed an alternative.
"If we don’t have them, there’s other alternatives I can use," he said. "It’s more of a nuisance."
Harochaw said hiccups in the supply chain have occurred for a variety of reasons, including the fact that Health Canada recently changed the regulations for shipping raw materials used to produce prescription drugs. He also said generic manufacturers may run out of the raw material they need to produce a drug if multiple other generic companies are also in need of the same material.
Other times, Harochaw said a generic drug company might only produce a batch of a drug once or twice a year if it does not turn big profits.
"It’s not a simple answer," he said of the supply chain problems.
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