Struggling Pharmacies in Sömmerda for Husband's Medication Supply
In the small town of Sömmerda, resident Gaby Grebenteuch, who has been living with multiple sclerosis since 1988, is facing a significant obstacle. She requires two specific medications—Quetiapin 150 mg retard and Tolterodin 4 mg retard—to manage her condition effectively. However, these medications have been unavailable for months, causing her and her family considerable worry.
Gaby's urologist has suggested alternative variants of the active ingredients, but it's uncertain if she can tolerate them. As a result, the couple has had to travel to Nordhausen to see a specialist, adding to their already challenging situation.
The shortage of these medications is a global issue, often arising from complex factors such as manufacturing issues, raw material shortages, regulatory hurdles, and increased demand. In Germany, the problem is further compounded by the country's pharmaceutical supply system, which relies on a limited number of suppliers for specific retarded (extended-release) formulations, making them more susceptible to bottlenecks.
Production costs in Germany are significantly higher than abroad, leading to outsourcing and subsequent dependencies. This situation results in medications being unavailable on the shelves in Germany. One example given for this issue is the weight loss injection, which is sold at significantly higher prices in the USA than in Germany.
Pharmacists in Sömmerda, such as Apothekerin Humann from Igel-Apotheke and Antony Schmidt from Park Pharmacy, report a high volume of customers seeking unavailable medications. The Grebenteuch family's sought-after medications are not available at the Park Pharmacy in Sommerda.
Peter Grebenteuch, Gaby's husband, has contacted 52 pharmacies, including those in France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, to obtain the psychotropic drug. However, these medications remain elusive. Particularly difficult are psychotropic drugs, gout medications, cholesterol-lowering drugs, and certain medications for expanding the bronchi.
The lack of these medications can have serious consequences for patients like Gaby. Long-acting or retard formulations, like Quetiapin 150 mg retard, are especially critical as they maintain stable plasma levels. Switching to other forms without medical oversight can lead to under- or overdosing, which may affect treatment effectiveness and quality of life.
In summary, medication shortages in Germany result from multifaceted supply chain and manufacturing issues affecting specific formulations. These shortages have direct adverse impacts on patients dependent on these drugs for chronic condition management, highlighting a need for improved supply chain resilience and communication to patients and healthcare providers.
- Gaby Grebenteuch, a resident in the small town of Sömmerda who lives with multiple sclerosis, needs Quetiapin 150 mg retard and Tolterodin 4 mg retard medications to manage her condition effectively.
- Despite suggestions for alternative variants of the active ingredients by Gaby's urologist, it remains uncertain if she can tolerate them due to the potential impact on her mental health.
- The shortage of these medications, which is a global issue affecting various medical-conditions and chronic-diseases, has caused Gaby and her family to travel to Nordhausen to see a specialist.
- In the case of Germany, the pharmaceutical supply system's reliance on a limited number of suppliers for specific retarded formulations, such as Quetiapin and Tolterodin, has made them more susceptible to bottlenecks due to factors like manufacturing issues, raw material shortages, and regulatory hurdles.
- Despite reaching out to multiple pharmacies in Germany and overseas, Peter Grebenteuch, Gaby's husband, has struggled to find the psychotropic drug Quetiapin, which is essential for his wife's health-and-wellness management and mental-health maintenance. This illustrates the crucial role of fitness-and-exercise and nutrition in co-managing chronic-diseases like multiple-sclerosis and neurological-disorders such as Gaby's.
