No more than two boxes per person. The Medicines Agency (ANSM) is calling on Thursday, October 20 to restrict purchases of paracetamol. That “does not mean that there is no more paracetamol at all in certain pharmacies“, reassures on franceinfo Pierre-Olivier Variot, president of the Union of Unions of Community Pharmacists (USPO), also a pharmacist in Plombières-lès-Dijon (Côte-d’Or).
franceinfo: When we talk about supply tensions, does that mean that there are pharmacies where there is no more paracetamol at all, are there varieties that are missing, certain brands?
Pierre-Olivier Variot: No, that does not mean that there is no longer any paracetamol in certain pharmacies. It just means that for certain forms, we are limited [restreint], for other forms, we have a break of a few days and we will be able to receive them afterwards. For example, where there is a strong quota, it is on pediatric forms, syrups, where we are limited to one box per month. Sometimes we need to have more so we have to juggle with other brands, other shapes, possibly giving capsules for a child who weighs less than 30kg. It’s just a supply that’s a bit more chaotic. For the adult, we always manage to find one form or another that will work. The ANSM measure is a common sense measure, to try not to increase supply disruptions even more.
Do patients understand these measures?
Yes, there is no problem. Those who come for a direct purchase, without a prescription, understand that there are limits. For those who have prescriptions, the Agency recommends that we only dispense the right amount, but that is already what we were doing when we signed a partnership with Health Insurance. When a doctor prescribes one gram of paractemol three times a day for a month, that’s 11 boxes, but you don’t necessarily need 11 boxes because you don’t take three grams every day.
“We are going to dispense less so that the patient has the quantity he needs: it is not a question of rationing him but of telling him “take the quantity you need, and do not store”
Pierre-Olivier Variot, President of the Union of Unions of Community Pharmacists (USPO)France Info
Paracetamol is only the tip of the iceberg: there are a lot of drug shortages in France, which costs the pharmacist time because solutions have to be found.
Which drugs are affected by these shortages?
Anti-cancer drugs, anti-hypertensors, anti-diabetics. We are talking today about nearly 2,500 drugs that are out of stock, and that has more than doubled since the beginning of the year. The ANSM sets up what are called drugs of major therapeutic interest which will have a mobilized stock in France and in Europe, and the manufacturers would have fines if this is not the case. Today, in France, we have the cheapest medicine in Europe: the manufacturer can sell a little more to another country, or else he will sell everything in France, but dealers will find it better to sell these medicines to our neighbours. It’s called parallel exports and it impoverishes the French market, it endangers access to patient care.