Canadian Pharmacy News

Drug shortages frustrate pharmacists

A shortage of a number of commonly used prescription drugs is being felt across the country, including here in St. Albert where one pharmacist says the scarcity of certain drugs is frustrating to both pharmacists and patients.

Ryan Diprose, a pharmacist at the Grandin Medical Clinic, said drug shortages are nothing new but in recent years he’s seen more shortages of commonly used drugs like penicillin.

“There’s always been shortages but sometimes they’re oddball medications. But in this case, there are more common ones that we’ve never had shortages of in recent history,” Diprose said.

Last fall, the Canadian Pharmacists Association surveyed its members about the extent of drug shortages across Canada.

Outside of Ontario and Quebec, 89 per cent of respondents had trouble locating medication to fill a prescription during their last shift and 87 per cent said drug shortages had greatly increased over the last year.

Pharmacists in Canada were most often short of Amitriptyline, Cephalexin 500 mg capsules and Metroclopramide in 2010, according to the report.

Diprose said his pharmacy has experienced shortages of all three of those drugs, as well as many others including an antidepressant called Elevil and Fluconazole, which is used to treat yeast infections.

He said drug company representatives will sometimes let him know in advance when a drug is going to be unavailable so he can stock up or when a drug will be available again.

“They try to do that. Sometimes it’s accurate, sometimes it’s not,” he said.

While some prescriptions can easily be substituted with other drugs, others cannot.

“Antibiotics are your biggest problem because you’re limited in your choices sometimes.” Diprose said.

If there is a shortage of a particular drug, he said pharmacists can phone doctors to suggest an alternative or ask patients to try filling their prescription at a different pharmacy.

“That’s all you can say. Most patients are understanding that there is nothing we can do. We do everything we can to get it in,” Diprose said.

He said some pharmacies, including his, can also purchase raw materials and make capsules and liquids in-house.

If a drug is desperately needed, Diprose said pharmacists can also contact both the Alberta College of Pharmacists and the Pharmacists Association of Alberta, who can then send emails to all the pharmacies in Alberta in an effort to locate the drug.

However, when a three-month shortage of penicillin occurred two years ago, Diprose said there was little anybody could do.

“No one had any. It was pointless to tell people to go to other pharmacies.”

While he’s heard many theories regarding drug shortages in Canada, including regulatory and manufacturing changes, no one has given him a straight answer.

“No one has really come out and said what the problem is, that’s the frustrating part,” Diprose said, adding it takes additional manpower to locate scarce supplies or find alternatives.

“It’s frustrating because it takes people out of their regular medication and then it takes a lot more time and energy to make changes, to find other options,” he said.

Steve Long, executive director of Pharmaceutical Funding & Guidance for Alberta Health and Wellness said the reasons for Canada’s recent drug shortages are threefold.

“Manufacturers are going through a change in standards as to how they go about producing products and that change in standards I think has taken them longer than anticipated and therefore they’re not getting batches and lots of their products approved as time goes on,” said Long.

He said the pharmaceutical industry is also rationing itself internationally and as a result, fewer people are producing raw materials than in the past and the supply chain is more vulnerable to disruption.

While some chemicals for prescription drugs are produced in Canada, Long said many come from India, China and Israel.

“I think it’s becoming more competitive,” he noted.

“We don’t have six producers of a single molecule anymore. We’ve got one or two producers for penicillin for instance and if that company has a problem, it goes through the whole system because they become sole supplier,” Long said.

While the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals is a federal issue, Long said if the province is aware of a shortage, pharmacists can substitute brand products for a generic brand.

In addition, he said Alberta Health and Wellness will add other products to their drug benefit list as substitutes for the missing product.

Quebecers’ disposable income inched higher in 2010

MONTREAL – Quebec retail sales increased 6.6 per cent to almost $100 billion in 2010 – the strongest growth in this sector since 2005.

The results were released as part of an annual survey conducted by Groupe Altus for Quebec’s retail council.

The study found that retail sales in Canada as a whole increased 5.1 per cent to $436.4 billion in 2010. Overall, retail sales in Quebec and the rest of the country grew at a faster rate than they did before the economic crisis that clobbered the industry in 2008 and 2009.

Quebecers’ personal disposable income grew from $26,031 in 2009 to $26,725 in 2010. However, it is still lower than the personal disposable income of $29,499 for the country as a whole, the study found.

While consumer confidence in Canada has improved, “we are still at a relatively low level,” said Francis Boucher of Groupe Altus at a news conference.

The overall surge in retail sales was partly because of the sector recovering from the losses incurred during the recession and the rate of growth is expected to slow down, said Gaston Lafleur, president of the Conseil Québécois du commerce de detail (CQCD).

In light of continued weak employment and consumer confidence, retail sales in Quebec are forecasted to grow by three to 3.5 per cent in 2011, he said.

Four retail sub-sectors in Quebec had better-than-average growth in 2010. Retail sales at service stations grew by 20.9 per cent, home furnishings stores saw their sales rise by 11.6 per cent, sales at automobile and auto parts dealers grew by 10 per cent and sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores experienced sales growth of 8.6 per cent.

The report found retail sales of food and beverages rose five per cent. The increased price of certain basic food items contributed to this hike in sales in sector, the study found. The opening of three price-competitive Walmart Superstores in Quebec this year is expected to bring down the cost of some food items. The arrival of U.S.-based Target in Quebec is also expected to provoke reactions from retail establishments that sell diverse merchandise.

While pharmacy and personal care retail sales grew only 2.3 per cent in 2010, the purchasing patterns of an aging population is expected to increase sales in this sector in coming years, the CQCD said.