I’ve been traipsing around London for the past week with a doctor’s prescription in my pocket – trying to find my next three months’ supply of HRT patches.
Hormone replacement therapy is just one of the drugs in desperately short supply across the UK.
A poll of more than 400 pharmacists reveals 84 per cent are struggling to obtain any HRT stocks while others are running out of contraceptives, anti-depressants, blood pressure, diabetes and epilepsy medications. It’s hard to get a definitive answer as to why.
A pharmacist told me there’s a shortage of the Chinese made adhesive used in HRT patches. Then my doctor muttered something cryptic about “pharmaceutical companies game-playing”.
It’s no secret that Big Pharma control the market so tightly that a glitch in just one factory can stop production around the globe.
But we still have absolutely no idea what additional impact Brexit will have.
This week the Government issued a ban on the export of HRT and 23 other drugs in a bid to protect supplies.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock insists the move is nothing to do with Brexit and we mustn’t worry about even worse shortages in the event of a cliff-edge departure.
But I do worry – and so do the 100,000 other women who rely on the same type of HRT as me.
I had to have a hysterectomy three years ago, before I’d entered the menopause or started having symptoms.
Without replacement hormones I will plunge off a cliff too – into mood swings, hot flushes and potential mental health issues.
And, having suffered from clinical depression in the past, I am terrified.
My GP assures me that this won’t happen – that we’ll find an alternative drug
But as I’ve traipsed round dozens of large and small pharmacies, I’ve seen stressed staff dealing with other worried patients.
Many told the Chemist and Druggist survey they were “barely coping” and “on a knife edge”.
One told me she’s met women who are now buying their HRT abroad – from as far away as the US and South Africa.
Matt Hancock says he understands how distressing medicine shortages can be but the government “will always act to ensure that there is an adequate supply of the medicine you need.”
I’ll take your word for it Mr Hancock.
Now can you please tell me where I can pick up 24 Evorel 50 patches to tide me over till Christmas?
