Medicine shortages have been plaguing consumers around the country. New regulations designed to force manufacturers to keep up to six-months supply on hand came into effect in July, but pharmacists say there's little sign the situation is easing. While there are often substitutes available, for many patients they're not appropriate.
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TVTranscript
00:00 So we know at the moment there are more than 400 medicines that are listed as in short
00:07 supply.
00:08 More than 40 are listed as being critically short.
00:12 That doesn't sound like that many, but that will actually translate into thousands and
00:16 thousands of people who are affected.
00:18 So and they've been long running.
00:20 So this this goes to back well before COVID.
00:24 So you know, it can be really common things like kids liquid antibiotics.
00:28 They have been going in and out of supply for months.
00:32 Blood pressure medications, blood thinners, as well as really life saving medications
00:38 for people with rare conditions like Addison's disease.
00:42 So they will go out of stock and then they'll be in stock.
00:45 And for some people, it's it's a really critical health issue.
00:48 Regulators say there's often a substitute available.
00:52 So why can't patients take those?
00:54 Well, in many cases, it's just not that simple.
00:57 So if you substitute a generic, they can, for example, they might have lactose and some
01:03 people are lactose intolerant.
01:05 Sometimes the alternative is in capsule form.
01:07 And if you use a feeding peg, you can't take it.
01:11 Other times, patients have to adjust.
01:14 So like with antidepressants or all sorts of medications, they have to sort of adjust
01:18 to a certain medication.
01:20 And to change it, they have to go back to their doctor, have another consultation, get
01:24 a new script.
01:26 That means there's a cost to Medicare.
01:29 And there's just a whole range of examples like this for so many medicines.
01:34 And it's really not as simple as just saying there's a substitute available.
01:38 Tell us a bit more about that financial impact.
01:42 And so what it means is sometimes a certain dosage might be out of stock.
01:46 So for example, with blood thin medication, the five milligram was out of stock for a
01:51 long time.
01:52 What that meant was it then had to be compiled using a two milligram dose.
01:56 So a weaker dose.
01:57 So then patients have to buy more of that medicine.
02:00 And it means they have to repeat their scripts more often.
02:03 And there's a cost.
02:04 So all these costs are fixed by the government.
02:07 So then the patient has to buy more lots of the same drug.
02:11 And for many patients, that can really start to add up.
02:15 There are safety nets, but a lot of the times people just don't get to the safety net.
02:20 Now that also translates into added cost to the PBS and cost to taxpayers.
02:25 What is the government's plan for change?
02:28 So in July, the government brought in some new rules for minimum stockholding requirements
02:33 for around 3000 critical medicines.
02:37 But what's already happening is a lot of suppliers are telling pharmacists they'll be applying
02:42 for exemptions because these are global shortages based on issues that started the supply chain
02:48 in big producers like China and India.
02:51 And so you can legislate to have six months of stock, but if the stock's not there, there's
02:56 not much you can do.
02:57 So these are really like entrenched problems in the supply chain that really needs some
03:02 big picture answers to solve.
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