Is there a shortage of medicines in Monaco?
All European countries seem to be affected… France in particular.
No chance. As far as medicines are concerned, Monaco is “totally linked to France”. Questioned by Monaco Info, the President of the Council of the Order of Pharmacists confirms: “We have also been experiencing this shortage for a while now, too long for our pharmacists. »
Amoxicillin – known as Clamoxyl or Augmentin – paracetamol, as well as some corticosteroids, are, according to Caroline Rougaignon-Vernin, the drugs most affected.
How to explain this phenomenon ? “The low price policy implemented by France for many years has led to the manufacture of these drugs often in China. Or today, with the Covid-19 crisis it is undergoing, China keeps most of these drugs for itself. »
“Pharmacists are fighting”
Patients sometimes go to four, five or six different pharmacies, says Caroline Rougaignon-Vernin, who has visited several pharmacies in the Principality.“Pharmacists are fighting to have stock. They spend their days on their computer trying to order the missing molecules, and little by little they manage to have a few boxes.she reports.
Health professionals are also looking for alternatives. “When they don’t have the drugs, they call the doctors to be able to substitute them with others. In 90/95% of cases, patients distribute themselves with medication to treat themselves, but it’s a heavy job. »
For the moment, pharmacies do not really have visibility over the coming months. “We have no return on the next deliveries, nor on a return to normal stocks”recently testified Clément Ferry, president of “Section A” of the Order of Pharmacists of Monaco, in the columns of The Monaco Observer.