Pharmacists concerned: highest number of medicine shortages ever last year

Never before have there been so many medicine shortages in one year as in 2022, said the chairman of the pharmacists' organization KNMP, Aris Prins, on the TV program KASSA on Saturday evening. Last year, a drug was unavailable for at least two weeks nearly 1,514 times.

On average, a shortage lasted 91 days last year, Prins told KASSA. In addition, 10 percent of medicines disappeared from the market altogether. Furthermore, there were 1007 drug shortages in 2021.

The Pharmacists Association refers to a shortage when a drug is unavailable nationwide for at least two weeks. Within a year, there can also be several shortages of a drug. If the shortage is resolved, but the drug is again unavailable for an extended period a few months later, they are counted separately, a KNMP spokesperson explained.

Starting this year, wholesalers are required to keep an emergency stock of medicines, the spokesman said. This measure could potentially offset some of the shortages, according to pharmacists.

In response to the figures on medicine shortages KNMP announced, Health Minister Ernst Kuipers wants to consider all possible solutions to better organize the availability of medicines for patients. The Ministry of Public Health (VWS) is not only looking at measures that the Netherlands itself can take to combat the shortage of medicines, but also stresses that it is very important to act together as Europe.

"Shortages are a global problem and can really only be properly addressed at the international level," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said. As an example of such an EU approach, the spokesman cited the production capacity of vaccines for Europe, which is already reserved for a possible next pandemic.

On Saturday, the ministry was not yet aware of the figures presented by KNMP, as they were not published until the television broadcast. However, the VWS has been working for some time on measures to avoid shortages as much as possible. For example, since Jan. 1, wholesalers and marketing authorization holders of medicines have been required to maintain an "iron stock" of two and a half months, the ministry spokesperson sated

In addition, the ministry is holding talks with wholesalers, pharmacists, pharmacists and health insurers "to see how we can move forward," according to a spokesperson. Kuipers also wants to discuss possible improvements to the preference policy and the role of purchasing policies of health insurers, wholesalers and pharmacists.

Recently, drug manufacturer InnoGenerics went bankrupt. According to the Ministry of Health, it cannot be ruled out that the bankruptcy will lead to shortages of some drugs in the coming months.

InnoGenerics manufactured drugs in tablet form, including drugs for gout, depression, cardiovascular disease, epilepsy and diabetes. The company will finally close its doors next week.

However, bankruptcy is also a cause for concern at KNMP. Shortages can usually be made up, for example by sourcing drugs from abroad, the spokesperson said. But patients may then have to take a different medicine for their ailments than they normally get, which they often find inconvenient, pharmacists observed.

Overall, the shortage of medicines is the result of problems with production and distribution. KNMP, however, wants the country to become less dependent on medicines from abroad. "This makes us very vulnerable," the spokesperson claimed.