We bring this up because we all know that 2022 has been marked by shortages of several drug references: Amoxicillin, Doliprane and others. More than 1,000 drugs were out of stock and 1,700 were in short supply in 2022 and the situation is not likely to improve any time soon.

A recent survey conducted by BVA for France Assos Santé showed that nearly one in four French people have already been refused treatment due to shortages. Between 2008 and 2018, there were nearly twenty times as many shortages reported, according to data from the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM).

The cause is the deindustrialization of the pharmaceutical sector and increases in production costs.

The question that arises is how, as a pharmacist, to deal with these shortages?

The pharmacist is in direct contact with the patient. He must deliver a drug to the patient if he needs it to treat himself. But it seems difficult to send the patient away because of a lack of products. And even if the pharmacist is not at the origin of this problem, he must still find alternatives to help his patients, and continue to run his pharmacy efficiently.

TriMed's has done some research to give you the solutions available to you in the event of a drug shortage.

Solution One: Sell by the Unit

According to the February 2022 Executive Order, pharmacists can dispense certain medications by the unit. This law is currently being tested and therefore only concerns a very specific list of antibiotics: 14 references:

    Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (Augmentin)
    Cefixime (Oroken)
    Cefpodoxime
    Cefotiam (Taketiam)
    Ciprofloxacin (Ciflox)
    Enoxacin (Enoxor)
    Flumequine (Apurone)
    Levofloxacin (Tavanic)
    Lomefloxacin (Decalogiflox, Logiflox)
    Moxifloxacin (Izilox)
    Norfloxacin
    Ofloxacin (Oflocet)
    Pefloxacin
    Thiamphenicol (Thiophenicol)

This law is currently only open on a voluntary basis, meaning that each pharmacist is free to apply this device or not.

But if you want to guarantee yourself a stock that lasts longer. Perhaps you could test this system.

We are also aware that this is a very vague system, easier to propose than to implement. Because behind it there is all the stock management, the possibility or not to deliver the product by unit, the way to anticipate and measure the needs in units, the assumption of responsibility by the health insurance, the traceability and the packaging... So many problems that make all the pharmacists reluctant. This is why we propose other solutions in this article.

Second solution: Replace the prescribed medication if it is unavailable by another one with the same therapeutic effect

The law on the organization and transformation of the healthcare system aims to simplify the patient's pathway: In the event of a shortage of a drug of major therapeutic interest (MITM), the dispensing pharmacist will be able to replace the unavailable drug initially prescribed with another drug in accordance with the recommendation established by the ANSM (action 10).

Thus, the pharmacist can offer his patient another drug with the same properties and therapeutic effects in order to receive adequate care even in the event of a shortage.

Third solution: Make compounded products available to patients to help ensure coverage

As a pharmacist, you can also manufacture the product yourself according to the patient's medical prescription to compensate for the temporary or permanent absence of an available and adapted pharmaceutical speciality.

For amoxicillin, the ANSM is supporting the availability of compounded products to help ensure coverage of pediatric needs.

Fourth solution: Build links with your network of pharmacists

Professionals in the same sector need to help each other. That's why it's important to build and strengthen relationships with other pharmacists. If you are part of a network of pharmacists, you can buy the product you need from them or direct your patient to the pharmacy that claims to have the product in stock (e.g., the vigirupture website, which allows pharmacists to view the stock in other pharmacies: https://www.vigirupture.fr/)

Fifth solution: TriMed's platform

Taking as a main idea the principle of pharmacists' network, TriMed's, our collaborative platform, connects pharmacists from all over the territory in order to buy and sell their health products between them. TriMed's takes care of the delivery and guarantees the traceability of the products.

A simple, practical and above all free service. You just have to go on the online platform, register as a health professional, search for the reference you need and order it online if it is available.

As our products are short-dated, you will also have the advantage of paying them at a discounted price (from -50%).

For more information, please visit www.trimeds.fr