Article in Läkartidningen - "Antibiotics - life-threatening shortages require action"
2020-03-04
Antibiotics have revolutionized modern medicine and are often lifesaving, if available. In 2019, 59 antibiotics were listed as backlogged, eight of which were oral suspensions. At the time of this article, 17 antibiotics were backlisted.
It is important to distinguish between when a specific product cannot be delivered to the market (back-ordered situation) and when healthcare lacks access to a medicine (shortage situation). A back-order situation can lead to a shortage situation if there are no available alternatives within the same substitutability group.
PLATINEA has conducted a survey of about ten pharmaceutical companies that supply antibiotics in Sweden. The survey complements important initiatives in the field from the Swedish Medicines Agency and LIF (the research-based pharmaceutical companies).
Read the full article here. (In Swedish).