Par John Foucault
Published on
“Almost two months have now passed. » After the deficiencies noted on some medicines, such as paracetamol, amoxicillin or cough syrups, it is the turn of corticosteroids.
These drugs, which have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, and commonly called cortisone by the general public, are increasingly difficult to find in pharmacies.
“I usually go through 80 to 100 boxes a month and right now I only get 5 to 6 boxes a week,” he notes withactu.fr Pierre-Olivier Variot, pharmacist in Côte-d’Or and president of the Union of Community Pharmacists (USPO).
Linked to the triple epidemic Covid-19, influenza, bronchiolitis
To explain this situation, the professional underlines the use made of these corticosteroids, prescribed in particular for “inflammatory pathologies, such as asthma, respiratory insufficiency…”
However, for several weeks, France faced a triple epidemic of Covid-19, bronchiolitis and flu, favoring a “growing demand” for anti-inflammatories.
Insufficient production sold to France
Only that, faced with these more numerous requests, the president of the Union of Community Pharmacists (USPO) observes a lack of stock in France, bringing pharmacies to the brink of collapse.
“The problem, according to Pierre-Olivier Variot, is that the manufacturers prefer to sell these drugs at more attractive prices than those practiced in France, which are too low. » A price positioning that translates into export of these drugs (in Germany for example) for economic reasons, to the detriment of the supply in French pharmacies.
If this industrial situation is not new, on the other hand the intensity of the triple epidemic has accentuated the phenomenon, causing it near-break situation.
How long will it last? No visibility for the moment, says Pierre-Olivier Variot. Contacted by actu.frthe National Agency for Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) has not yet responded to our requests.
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