Several federal states are relaxing the import rules for antibiotic juices for children on the basis of an officially determined supply shortage. For example, Bavaria announced at the weekend that it would temporarily allow the import of medicinal products that are not approved or registered in Germany. “In this way, pharmaceutical wholesalers, pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies can act unbureaucratically,” said Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU), according to the announcement. North Rhine-Westphalia has also “taken all the necessary steps to quickly remedy the situation,” the WDR quoted the Düsseldorf ministry as saying. In Bremen, too, there are looser requirements for imports.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wrote on Twitter with a view to the Bavarian initiative: “We have now created the conditions for such unbureaucratic actions by the federal states against antibiotic supply bottlenecks. They should be used.”
The action of the federal states is made possible by an announcement by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) in the Federal Gazette, according to which there is currently a shortage of these medicines. This should also make it easier to import from other European countries. Authorities could now make it possible, for example, to have a drug from Spain that does not have German packaging issued by pharmacies in this country, explained the spokesman for the Central Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV), Florian Lanz.
Appeal from medical professionals in Europe
According to paediatricians, the supply situation for medicines is critical. A few days ago, doctors from several European countries appealed in a letter to their health ministers to take action against the shortage. “The health of our children and young people is at risk throughout Europe due to the lack of medicines. A quick, reliable and permanent solution is urgently needed!”, the letter says. This scenario was unimaginable just a few years ago.
The co-signers include the President of the Professional Association of Pediatricians (BVKJ), Thomas Fischbach. There is a lack of fever and pain medication in dosage forms suitable for children. The antibiotic penicillin does not currently exist either, he told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”.
Antibiotics are prescribed, for example, for pneumonia, urinary tract infections or scarlet fever. If the right preparation is not available, according to the BVKJ, an antibiotic of the second or third choice must be used, which is less effective and increases the risk of antibiotic resistance developing.
Confidence in pharmaceutical industry “shaken”
According to the Federal Ministry, there are many reasons for supply bottlenecks in medicines. It pointed to bottlenecks in raw materials or production problems. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds blames the pharmaceutical industry: “There was a common trust in the pharmaceutical industry that, in case of doubt, it would ensure the care of patients. This trust has now been shaken,” said Lanz. The industry has built supply chains with manufacturing facilities abroad that are now proving to be unstable.
Lauterbach wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the pediatricians’ concerns were justified and referred to a law to combat the bottlenecks that the federal government had introduced in early April. However, it has not yet been decided by the Bundestag. It is intended to enable manufacturers to charge higher sales prices for children’s medicines in Germany, so that deliveries to Germany are more worthwhile. In the case of important medicines, there is also an obligation to store them for several months. And in the case of antibiotics, manufacturers who produce active ingredients in Europe should be given a greater say.
The explanatory memorandum to the law states that for certain medicines containing antibiotics, more than 60 percent of the active ingredient production now takes place in Asia, twice as much as twenty years ago. The new regulation is intended to reduce dependencies.
