Australia should develop a centralised system for managing shortages of prescription medications, an expert believes.
An article, published in the MJA, revealed the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) had listed seven medications, to alert prescribers of impending shortages, while the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which only notifies prescribers once drugs are beyond critically short supply, had not listed any.
The study followed an announcement from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that prescription drug shortages in the US had almost tripled between 2005 and 2010, from 61 to 178, an upward trend that was continuing in 2011.
Gill Sharratt, executive officer of the NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group, told MJA InSight that shortages were not as big an issue...
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