Doliprane in shortage, the return. For more than two years, the famous drug has suffered from chronic shortages in pharmacies and this time it is the children’s version in syrup that is missing. A shortage that falls at the worst moment with the multiplication of winter viruses.
“It’s very simple, there’s nothing else. It’s worrying and requires a lot of time because we spend our time looking for it left and right, and during that time we can’t care for our patients,” Pierre-Olivier Variot worries. , pharmacist and president of the Union of Community Pharmacists Unions (USPO) with the Parisian.
triple trouble
In fact, the drug suffers the effects of a triple problem: a tension in the supply of paracetamol (the active ingredient), in the glass bottles and the consequences of the social movement within the Sanofi laboratory, manufacturer of Doliprane.
And at the same time, the drug is facing a very high demand due to the winter epidemics that are currently circulating, such as colds, flu, bronchiolitis or even covid-19.
Last October, the National Medicines Safety Agency already denounced the problem and announced that “since July 2022 there is a quantitative quota for the supply of the city’s pharmacies.”
“In the absence of a prescription, limit the dispensing to two boxes per patient in the absence of a medical prescription. Avoid prescribing acetaminophen to your patients who don’t need it right away,” he advised pharmacists.
And invite patients not to accumulate stocks, which obviously has had no effect, particularly due to the new waves of covid.
“Without rest” for Sanofi
“Therefore, paracetamol is distributed in accordance with this directive, in all ranges, homogeneously on French territory. All forms of the Doliprane range remain open on request to supply and deliver to all our stakeholders: hospitals , wholesalers and pharmacists and care for patients “continues the laboratory.
“All the teams at our two production sites, Lisieux and Compiègne, as well as our distribution sites are mobilized to better meet patient needs and demand,” he adds.
Unfortunately, the problem for parents does not end with Doliprane. Amoxicillin, an antibiotic widely used in France, also presents difficulties, particularly pediatric syrups that contain it.
Source: BFM TV
