Drug shortages in hospitals

The hospitals in Germany run out of medication

17/12/2012

Experts warn of bottlenecks in drug supply in hospitals. According to media reports, clinics are increasingly struggling with drug shortages. Often must be dodged on worse alternative preparations, writes the „Berlin newspaper“ citing an expertise of the German Hospital Association (DKG) for the Federal Ministry of Health.

According to the latest reports, a supply shortage threatens many hospitals due to supply shortages. Under certain circumstances could „in a further aggravation of the situation, the supply of seriously ill patients with the necessary medicines no longer guaranteed“ be quoted by the „Berlin newspaper“ the letter from the DKG. For the first time, reliable figures on the extent of drug supply bottlenecks were presented in the DKG paper, with the data coming from a representative survey in around 100 German hospitals. The survey has shown that of the 400 to 600 different medicines used in the clinics, an average of four to six percent per month is not available or not available in sufficient quantities. For this reason, about 20 percent of the patients must resort to inferior alternatives.

Delivery bottlenecks in antibiotics and cancer drugs
The development of the drug supply in the clinics is of considerable concern to the experts, especially as the supply bottlenecks have intensified in recent months. The fact that about one fifth of the patients have to be treated with therapeutically worse alternative medicines is very questionable in terms of health. Bottlenecks arise according to the report of the „Berlin newspaper“ especially for medicines used to treat cancer patients as well as antibiotics and some intravenously administered drugs. Most of the drug bottlenecks occurred suddenly, without warning by the manufacturer. The intensive efforts of the hospital pharmacists to compensate for the supply bottlenecks have so far succeeded in avoiding serious impairments in patient care.

Registered for drug supply bottlenecks
The causes of the supply bottlenecks in the medicines are mentioned in the paper of the German Hospital Association, among others, too low production capacities, lower inventories along the supply chain as well as problems with the procurement of active substances and higher requirements of the regulatory authorities regarding the quality of the medicines „Berlin newspaper“. In order to avoid negative consequences for the patients, the DKG believes that a central reporting register for drug shortages should be set up, that manufacturers must be legally obliged to store essential medicines and that centralized risk management should be provided in a timely manner in the event of imminent bottlenecks to be able to. (Fp)

Picture: Lupo