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Stockpiling drugs

One understandable reason that patients on long term medication ‘stockpile’ their routine drugs is to help protect themselves from pharmaceutical companies, who can suddenly withdraw a drug from the UK market, for purely commercial (not patient safety) reasons. Some withdrawn drugs are often still widely available in Europe or US.

Long term patients in particular, get settled on their routine drugs and fear having to suddenly change any of their drugs. ‘Stockpiling’ provides them with a small buffer supply, lest they have to suddenly try out the alternatives (if any!) available to them. As some patients might be intolerant to or not get on very well with the alternatives - this can be an extremely worrying and distressing time for both them and/or their carers.

If there is no valid reason for suddenly withdrawing a drug e.g. a new safety concern or manufacturing problem, then it seems totally unreasonable for pharmaceutical companies who benefit from supplying to the NHS to be able to just suddenly stop the supply. I was surprised to discover that companies can legitimately do this and that it is not actually an uncommon problem for patients and their carers to have to deal with. Surely there should be a contractual minimum notice period (say a year) and communication systems in place to ensure that patients are informed well in advance of any such product withdrawal from the UK market.

There may also in some cases be a financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to withdraw a drug from the UK market, if in the process significant numbers of NHS patients are thereby forced onto a more expensive alternative product. With hard pressed NHS budgets, this issue needs urgent attention.

If all pharmaceutical companies who benefit from supplying to the NHS, had to give a reasonable minimum notice period (say a year) of their intention to withdraw a product from the UK market (for non safety associated reasons) there would be far less inclination for long term patients to "stockpile" their routine drugs.

The current supply system does not put the patient at the centre. There is usually little of no PPI in this process at all, as the first many patients usually know about a problem is when they go to collect a repeat prescription, only to discover that their usual drug is no longer available in the UK, albeit often still available elsewhere in the world.

The lack of minimum notice periods before a drug can be withdrawn from the NHS for non patient safety reasons, is therefore not good for patients, not good for the NHS Purse and tarnishes the reputation of companies that patients have come to rely on.

Re: RPS warns of wasted prescriptions