More Evidence of the Prescription Medications Crisis

Following Mondays post of my personal experiences last week,  I’ve been collating some of the evidence showing just how big a problem this is; the conditions below in Bold are just some of the Health problems affected :

Chemist dispensers complain shortages of Drugs are “killing” them

That is sad BUT ‘killing THEM? Let us focus on outcome of the sudden unavailability of a drug such as Adalat which controls blood pressure and angina and, or, Furosemide used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and oedema.

And just what will happen when  patients who rely on  Antidepressants, drugs for Chronic and Acute Pain Relief,  to control their Epilepsy,  and women taking HRT suddenly find themselves Without their Pharmaceuticals?

Hidden within another article regarding medication shortages – Medicine shortages force government to limit HRT drug exports  it was reported the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)  are allowing pharmacists to issue Different strengths of fluoxetine, better known as Prozac, used to treat  major depressive disorder, bulimia nervosa , obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder patients! This is despite one of the many warnings given by the drug information included inside packages: Do not take this medicine in larger or smaller amounts

So the UK Government is advising dispensers to Issue the Wrong dosage – This could quite possibly “Kill” People.

Despite the growing amount of evidence regarding the shortages of medication,  the Healthcare Distribution Association, (HDA) recently published this-

Representatives from the largest wholesalers will visit pharmacies across the UK to “dispel some of the misconceptions” around medicine shortages

Herein we are told “Although this problem has been referred to as ‘drug shortages’, often the real nature of the problem is the delay between a patient handing over their prescription and actually getting the medicines they need” !

They also produced an Infograph suggesting a plethora of other possible ‘reasons’ for these shortages, which remember don’t exist, including “Acts of God” !

So either God, or we patients are to blame;  NO this is completely untrue, it is not our fault, nor that of a deity that medication is unavailable

Martin Sawyer CEO of aforementioned HDA, wrote  “Hardly a day goes by without the reported shortage of a medicine – and rightly so. For one patient to have to wait to receive their medication is one too many.”   Sawyer proposes the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) “should enforce stricter laws on wholesale businesses hoarding supplies to help prevent medicine shortages”

Hmm, the HDA goes from a denial of shortages – to blaming patients and then  independent suppliers of pharmaceuticals for the problem in less than a week?

So just Why is this happening? According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DH)  these shortages in medication is something that happens “occasionally” and  “most shortages are because of problems in production” but absolutely it is Not down to Brexit!

Regardless of these claims, most worrying is Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s outgoing top adviser on health matters said yesterday “ministers could not guarantee that lives would not be lost due to a lack of resources“.

Given the evidence we have seen so far, I think it is justified to say some people are going to Die because of these shortages. And personally I strongly feel, that any life lost as a result of no, or the wrong dosage/type of medication; would be tantamount to State Manslaughter