Cardiomyopathy UK welcomes the report from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 'Medicines Shortages: solutions for empty shelves' which calls on the Government to create a national strategy to manage medication shortages.
The report calls on the Government to create a national strategy to both prevent and manage medicine shortages that would streamline efforts across the NHS, reduce inefficiencies caused by duplication of effort and ensure information and guidance for professionals and patients is available as soon as shortages occur.
Disopyramide is provided off-licence to people with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HOCM) as the drug was originally approved for arrhythmias. However, there are other suitable alternative anti-arrhythmic medications for people with arrhythmias, disopyramide is currently the only available medication which helps to reduce the symptoms experienced due to symptomatic HOCM. This means if there are shortages of disopyramide and people are unable to obtain a supply their symptoms return, which for some people affect their daily life.
Joel Rose, Chief Executive at Cardiomyopathy UK said: "For people with HOCM, the shortages of the drug, disopyramide, have had negative effects on their heart health, and they often experience worsening symptoms, such as fatigue, if they can’t take the medication. They also experience increased stress and anxiety in making endless calls to pharmacists to find availability. We have heard of members of our community taking drastic and risky measures, including sourcing the drug privately from abroad and rationing their supplies.”
There is no disputing the fact that medication shortages are global and complex. But for anyone with HOCM, the impact of shortages is simple and local. Without a constant supply of their life-saving medication from their local pharmacy, they are likely to face serious health complications which could affect their quality of life and their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.
We welcome this report and join the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in calling for a cohesive cross-government and NHS strategy across the whole UK that is needed to improve medicines supply chain resilience and medicines security.
Download the RPS report here.
Read the joint letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care here.