EU Court of Auditors issued a warning about drug shortages
In a concerning development, over 500 medications, including essential antibiotics such as Cefuroxim, Clindamycin, Cotrimoxazol, and Erythromycin, as well as drugs for asthma, heart attacks, and severe pain, are currently in short supply across Germany. This trend is not unique to Germany, with many EU countries reporting similar issues.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has released a special report titled 'Critical Medicine Shortages,' highlighting the urgency of the situation. The report finds that Europe's medicine supply is at risk due to the rise of China and India as pharmaceutical powerhouses, and the European Commission has identified weaknesses in supply chains as a cause for medicine shortages, with the production of certain medicines, particularly antibiotics and painkillers, largely outsourced to Asia.
The ECA warns that the EU needs an effective solution to address critical medicine shortages and calls for far-reaching reforms. One significant step towards addressing this issue has been the introduction of a Europe-wide list of critical medicines. However, the fragmentation of the EU medicine market means that this does not guarantee better availability.
Medicines urgently needed in one country are not always available in others due to country-specific approvals, exacerbating the shortage problem. This lack of coordination among countries has led to situations where stockpiling medicines by some EU countries has worsened shortages elsewhere.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) played a crucial role in mitigating vaccine and medicine shortages during the acute COVID-19 crisis. However, its competences have since been revoked, leaving it without adequate information about shortages to prevent them and lacking the necessary data to address existing shortages. The EMA is often informed late and incompletely by the pharmaceutical industry.
Senior Professor of Pharmaceutical and Medical Chemistry, Ulrike Holzgrabe, emphasizes the importance of having enough anti-infectives and oncology drugs. However, achieving comprehensive independence from Asian production sites is not seen as feasible. Instead, Professor Holzgrabe advocates for promoting reshoring activities, prioritizing supply security, and creating a European reserve of strategically important medicines.
The European Parliament has adopted a comprehensive action plan to address medicine shortages. This plan includes the promotion of reshoring activities, prioritization of supply security, creation of a European reserve of strategically important medicines, and increased transparency in the supply chain. CDU MEP and pediatrician Peter Liese has been advocating for solutions at the European level, stating that a significant increase in spending on off-patent medications would solve many problems.
Lehne, the ECA's rapporteur, urged the EU legislators to strengthen coordination among the member states to address the urgent need for action on medicine shortages. The European Parliament's adoption of the comprehensive action plan in 2023 is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to ensure the availability of critical medications across the EU.
As winter approaches, the shortage in medicine supply in Germany is currently 521 medicines, including essential antibiotics and treatments for heart attacks and severe pain. The shortages can have serious consequences for patients, threaten public health, and are costly for doctors, pharmacies, and states. It is crucial that the EU legislators heed the warnings and take immediate action to address the critical medicine shortages plaguing Europe.
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