Medicine shortage in Peißenberg: Asthma medication for children is missing!

Medicine shortage in Peißenberg: Asthma medication for children is missing!

Recently, many patients in Germany have increasingly been faced with serious problems when it comes to obtaining vital medication. The shortages of medications such as salbutamol, an important asthma medication that is currently not available, are particularly noticeable. Dr. Philipp Kircher, owner of the St. Ulrich Pharmacy in Peißenberg and spokesman for the Bavarian Chamber of Pharmacists, described the worrying situation in his area of ​​responsibility.

"Above all, there is a lack of the most important asthma medication for children - salbutamol. It is currently not available throughout Germany," explains Kircher, worrying about the health of his little patients. Although his pharmacy recently received a small shipment from the US, it is only a temporary solution. However, the shortage of essential medicines affects not only asthma medications, but also antibiotics used to treat diseases such as Lyme disease.

Causes of the delivery bottlenecks

The reasons for the current bottlenecks represent a complex interplay. One main factor is the overwhelming dependence on production in China, where around 90 percent of the medicines required for the German market are manufactured. This dependency makes healthcare vulnerable to disruptions, be it transportation problems or production downtime.

“Sometimes manufacturers give discounts of up to 99 percent,” explains Kircher. Such price cuts are leading many to relocate drug production to China, where wages are lower and environmental regulations are less stringent. In Germany itself there are hardly any manufacturers that produce original medicines because well-known companies such as Hexal or Ratiopharm only package products that were made in China.

In addition, there is another concern: Some medications are often no longer available on the German market because manufacturers want to avoid the impending financial losses. “If a company in Germany only gets five cents for a drug, it would prefer to sell to Romania or Greece, where higher prices are paid,” says Kircher. This situation puts the system in a critical situation, which is further exacerbated by constant price pressure from health insurance companies and politics.

Another worrying aspect is the immense administrative effort that pharmacists have to put in to obtain the missing medications. There have been over 20 million documented supply shortages in recent years. “Ten percent of my working time is now spent dealing with the bottlenecks,” reports Kircher.

Political reactions and their consequences

Kircher finds the statements of Health Minister Prof. Karl Lauterbach particularly frustrating, who downplayed the situation and announced that delivery bottlenecks had already been significantly reduced. “Millions of German patients experience the opposite every day,” he emphasizes. This imbalance between policy statements and the reality on the ground highlights the gap that exists between policy and patient needs.

Kircher calls for more recognition for the efforts of pharmacists and health workers. “We are doing what we can with what little we have,” he appeals to the political landscape to finally act and take the pressing problems in the healthcare system seriously. One example that Kircher cites is the last remaining European production site for antibiotics and penicillin in Austria. He sees this as a positive model that Berlin should emulate in order to reduce its dependence on established production facilities in China.

The situation shows that it is necessary to promote domestic drug production in order to no longer expose the health of millions of patients to the risk of shortages. As Kircher summarizes, it is time for politicians to address these crucial issues and seek long-term solutions before the situation deteriorates further. For further information and detailed reporting on the current situation in medication supply, read more at www.merkur.de.