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Pharmacists have to improvise, doctors are alarmed

2020-02-21T05:21:19.729Z


Politicians are demanding that the production of important medicines be brought back to the EU, doctors and pharmacists in the district can only welcome that. There is growing displeasure about the shortages in the supply of medicines. Psychopharmaceuticals in particular are currently lacking. The dependence on Asia is enormous, the corona epidemic in China exacerbates the situation.


Politicians are demanding that the production of important medicines be brought back to the EU, doctors and pharmacists in the district can only welcome that. There is growing displeasure about the shortages in the supply of medicines. Psychopharmaceuticals in particular are currently lacking. The dependence on Asia is enormous, the corona epidemic in China exacerbates the situation.

District - "The problem is as present as ever," said Philipp Kircher, spokesman for the pharmacists in the district of Weilheim-Schongau, referring to the shortage of medicines in the region. As reported, the medical district association had raised the alarm two weeks ago. The lack of medication is "unacceptable," said chairman Karl Breu.

The CSU made an advance in the Bavarian state parliament this Wednesday. An urgent request was made to relocate the production of important active ingredients for medicines, especially antibiotics, anesthetics and pain relievers, back to Germany or the EU. The Bundestag had already decided a package of measures against the supply bottleneck a week ago. In addition, the health insurance companies should bear possible additional costs that the patients incur as a result of additional payments.

“Wild tinkering” in the apto counters

In the district of Weilheim-Schongau, it was mainly antihypertensive drugs that were running low. At the moment, however, there are no psychiatric drugs, explains spokesman Kircher, who runs a pharmacy in Peißenberg himself. "There is a lot of wild tinkering with us these days, we have to improvise," he says. Among other things, tablets are chopped up. Sometimes the pharmacists even make their own juices from the pills because the preparation is not available for patients with difficulty swallowing. And again and again, according to Kircher, it happens that patients have to dig deep into their pockets because only the original medication is available that health insurance companies do not (yet) pay for. Instead of the five euro prescription fee, it is easy to pay 70 euros, which the customer has to bear alone. The Peißenberg pharmacist therefore urgently advises his customers not to wait until the medication supply has been used up, but "to take care of a new prescription as early as possible".

The medical profession is also alarmed

The medical community in the district is also alarmed: "The bottlenecks have increased extremely, it is really a dramatic situation," complains Martin Kayser, a general practitioner from Schongau. It is common for patients to come back to the practice because the prescribed medication is not available in the pharmacy. "This has increased enormously since last year," reports the Schongau doctor, who had to completely change the treatment for some blood pressure patients. Kayser now sees above all the legislature in Germany as being challenged. For all medicines, stocks must be created, he says.

General practitioners denounce "greed of the pharmaceutical companies"

Resentment is also growing in Weilheim: "You would have to reduce the greed of the pharmaceutical companies, but that should be difficult," complains Dr. Michael Hartung on the biggest problem in his eyes: "The corporations are only looking for profit optimization" - that is why there are bottlenecks. In his practice, too, it is primarily the blood pressure patients who come back to the practice from the pharmacy because the prescribed medication is not available. "This happens two to three times a day," reports the general practitioner from Weilheim. Fortunately, there are still alternatives with the preparations, he says.

Thanks to a large pharmacy: everything is still running smoothly in the hospitals

In the houses of Krankenhaus GmbH in Weilheim and Schongau, the drug supply is still running smoothly. According to the medical director Dr. Michael Platz (Schongau) there are "enough preparations that you can avoid". According to Platz, the two clinics are supplied by a Garmisch pharmacy that also supplies the local hospital. The pharmacy is keen to stock poorly stocked medicines. The doctor's conclusion: "There is no threat, but you have to be very vigilant."

Corona crisis could exacerbate the situation

The medical director in Schongau also says this with a view to Asia. A number of medicines are manufactured in the Far East. If the Corona crisis spreads, there may be even greater production bottlenecks, feared pharmacist spokesman Kircher, who emphasizes the seriousness of the situation. The dependence on India and China is enormous. The Chinese do not need weapons to start a world war, "they just have to turn off the antibiotics."

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Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-02-21

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