ABC analysis finds life-saving medicines in repeated critical shortage

The analysis, which tracked shortages dating back to 2015, identified 40 medications recently in critical shortage. Thirteen of these have been in critical shortage multiple times. The current shortages for Bicillin L-A and Creon are the longest recorded for those drugs. Other frequently short drugs include a nuclear medicine used to assess blood flow, an injection for high blood pressure in pregnancy, the only Q fever vaccine (which Australia will run out of this week), the EllaOne morning-after pill, and Lyclear scabies cream.

Australia imports about 90 per cent of its medicines but makes up about 2 per cent of the global pharmaceutical market. University of Queensland supply chain researcher Peter Coomber said Australia was an unattractive market based purely on market size. He said the reasons behind recent critical shortages included manufacturing problems, raw material supply issues, and increased global demand. Coomber said repeated shortages were a “big problem” and that Australia's supply chain was “lacking resilience and vulnerable to disruption”. He called on all jurisdictions to commit to a national List of Essential Medicines, as the World Health Organization and many other countries have.

University of Adelaide lecturer Jack Janetzki said that while authorities could manage shortages, repeated critical shortages needed close attention and could indicate that a medicine or its supply chain remained vulnerable over time. He said researchers did not fully understand the costs of shortages to individual patients, which could include time spent finding medication and higher expenses. Royal Australasian College of Physicians spokesperson and addiction medicine professor John Saunders said repeated medicine shortages, including medium-impact ones, caused great frustration among doctors. “Switching medications when this isn't part of a plan … is a very difficult thing for [patients] to experience,” he said.

Medicines Australia CEO Liz de Somer said shortages could occur due to "unforeseen supply chain disruption" and "underinvestment by the government in the PBS". Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association CEO Nikki Lorenz said supply resilience is "not free". The TGA acknowledged the impact of repeated shortages but said each shortage was unique and dynamic. It said it worked with companies and state health departments to resolve them, but it cannot compel pharmaceutical companies to supply medicines.

The analysis found that more than 420 shortages were recorded between late September and early October, with critical ones making up the smallest share. The TGA said a previous shortage does not necessarily determine the nature or impact of a future one. It said government initiatives aimed to support local manufacturing and reduce supply disruptions, and that it was investigating and developing reforms.