An internet platform helps people find the missing medicines
More than 250 drug deficiency signals are submitted to a dedicated Internet platform. It was created by the BAMPTD and its purpose is to help people find medicines that are missing in pharmacies.
According to the creators of the drug deficiency drug platform in similar situations, medicines can be obtained from other European countries. Legislative changes are needed for this purpose. There can be a fast import in case of drug shortages through parallel imports, so that it can be imported into a different package also. And to give us the opportunity to provide for the Bulgarian patients the medicines available in the EU, but being deregistered in our country. This may be regulated in the coming months when changes are made to the Law on Medicines in Human Medicine.
Lydia Dimova takes a popular drug for heart prophylaxis every day. Since the end of September, however, she cannot find it in pharmacies.
Lydia Dimova: Pharmacies say that by the end of the year there will be no imports and they she was offered a replacement therapy.
Lydia is looking for the drug through friends abroad, and her daughter alerts her to the drug shortage platform. From there, they went to pharmacies with residual amounts of the medicines following the information of the platform.
The reason for the suspension of the drug is a production problem, state from the pharmacies.
Nikolay Kostov – Chairman of the Association of Pharmacy Owners: In January we expect
continuation of the drug supply. There are similar products by other companies. It is important to
dissolve in the intestine and not to irritate the stomach.
BAMPTD – the creators of the drug deficiency drug platform, state that in similar situations,
medicines can be obtained from other European countries by parallel distribution but they expect
legislative amendments.
Boryana Marinkova – Bulgarian Association for Medicines Parallel Trade Development: It would
become possible to have a fast import in case of shortage of drugs with the parallel imports tools, it
would be possible also to import the same medicine in different packaging. And we can provide for
the Bulgarian patients the medicines available in the EU, but unfortunately deregistered in our
country.
