Article in LmV - "New report: At least 60 reasons for antibiotic shortages"
PLATINEA has mapped why there is a shortage of antibiotics in healthcare.
The problem of backlogged drugs and resulting shortages seems to be becoming more and more common in health care. Both in Sweden and globally. In many cases, a listed medicine can be exchanged for another equivalent one. But sometimes this doesn't work. This is particularly noticeable when it comes to antibiotics, where in some cases there is no alternative to switch to.
In a new report from the collaboration platform PLATINEA, they have looked at and mapped what causes antibiotic shortages. In total, around 60 identified causes are reported in various parts of the pharmaceutical supply chain.
The various risk factors have been grouped into six main categories such as "production", "purchasing processes" and "antibiotic use". This could, for example, be about the incorrect use of antibiotics in healthcare, a lack of rapid diagnostics, changeover problems in production or an unexpected rise in demand. Many of the deficiency causes are also interconnected, making the whole area complex.
Read the full article here. (In Swedish).