To resolve a supply shortage in a pharmacy, respondents need an average of twelve minutes. With 60 affected patients per day, this corresponds to twelve hours daily that pharmacies are occupied with supply shortages. According to Rose from the Paracelsus Medical Private University in Salzburg, this represents a significant cost factor. The study took place from 2023 to the current year.

Majority Blames Politicians for Shortages

The surveyed pharmacists feared that ten percent of therapies are seriously endangered by supply shortages. Customers are overall very unsettled. Patients were also surveyed for the scientific study. They were "somewhat satisfied" with the solutions offered in the pharmacies, reported Rose. The most common solution was switching to another medication, followed by a short delay until the required product became available. Pharmacists were only partially blamed for supply shortages by the surveyed patients, but 87 percent blamed politicians. The pharmacists wished for more freedom from politics in problem-solving and better communication opportunities with doctors.

Solutions Against Shortages: Relocating Production Back to Europe Almost Excluded

For the manufacturers' side, the generics association was surveyed by the researchers on the topic of supply shortages. For them, the main future issue was the narrowing on the supplier side. Logistical problems are almost always solvable. However, the number of suppliers is decreasing due to price pressure. "If there's only one left and then something happens, then there's nothing at all," said Rose, head of the research group for pharmacotherapy and translational research at PMU. Relocating production back to Europe is almost excluded, as entrepreneurs cannot imagine that it will work in the long term. The obligation in several countries like Austria, that more must be stored at wholesalers or pharmacies, "naturally leads to withdrawals from other markets." This is not at all sensible from the manufacturers' perspective and therefore remains a "pious wish," explained Rose.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.