There are currently almost 200 items on Peter Sandmann’s list. All medications that his Nauplia pharmacy in Harlaching cannot obtain. “But we need it,” says the pharmacist. Supply bottlenecks in medicines are also angering doctors, pharmacists and patients this winter.
There is a lack of broad-spectrum antibiotics, both for adults and children, and of specific antibiotics, such as for cystitis. Diabetes medications or statins that lower cholesterol levels are also currently not available. Or the rabies vaccine, on which, for example, workers who are sent abroad by their companies depend. The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices currently lists 496 active ingredients that are affected by supply bottlenecks.
“If I have ten recipes, each with two items, I can assume that something is not available for five recipes,” complains Sandmann. “This is not a good situation.” He is a member of the board of the Bavarian Pharmacists’ Association and, in addition to Harlachinger, runs two other pharmacies in Munich. His criticism is directed at Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), who promised last year to improve the situation, but from the pharmacist’s point of view has done too little to do so. “We have exactly the same situation as last year.”
There is a lot of activity in a pharmacy on Maillingerstrasse, a pharmacist is looking intently at a computer monitor. When asked about the medication shortage, she says: “It’s still pretty bad.” She observes an “up and down” in the availability of medicines. In their pharmacy the situation with antibiotics is currently a bit better, but things are looking “bad” with eye medicines. There was only a significant improvement in the fever juices for children. But what about the rest of the missing medications?
Last summer, the Bundestag approved a draft law that would require wholesalers to hold stocks for several months in order to be able to compensate for short disruptions in the supply chain or high demand at short notice. The law also provides for regulations to make it easier for pharmacists to switch to other medications if the one prescribed is not available.
This is often the only way to help the patient at the moment. Sandmann says he does this dozens of times a day in his pharmacy because something the doctor has prescribed is always missing. He and his colleagues also had discussions with doctors several times a day in order to look for an alternative together. From a different manufacturer or with a different dosage. If necessary, a patient may have to be switched to a completely different medication. Sandmann says he knows patients who have had to accept poorer treatment as a result.
Pharmacist Peter Sandmann cannot give many patients the prescribed medication.
(Photo: Catherina Hess)
He has an automatic query running in the background that queries the entire list of missing funds every hour from all three wholesale companies with which he cooperates. Every time there is something, I order it immediately. “Then every now and then you get a little something that you’re very happy about.”
On the other side there is someone like Joachim Sauer. He is head of supply chain management at Sanacorp, a pharmaceutical retailer based in Planegg that supplies the whole of Germany. Sauer also knows: “Unfortunately, antibiotics are critical at the moment, and there is a shortage of penicillin for children in particular.” However, he says he would not describe the situation as dramatic. As soon as supplies arrive, we try to distribute something to all pharmacies as fairly as possible so that there is a comprehensive supply.
“The supply chain for pharmaceuticals is very long and highly complex,” says Sauer. “If one or a few participants fail, the other market participants can no longer compensate and bottlenecks arise.” If a wave of infections then rolls out and demand suddenly increases, there is a risk of empty shelves and a lot of extra work for pharmacies.