Going to the pharmacy and going home empty-handed when there is a child in bed with a fever and cough was unthinkable and inadmissible until now, but from now on this too can happen. Indeed, this is also happening in Forlì and Cesena. In fact, some pharmacies, in the period of the flu peak like the current one, have run out of aerosol medicines (such as Clenil and Prontinal), see a shortage of equivalents, no longer have Nurofen syrup to lower fever and Brufen is considered to have disappeared.
“There are problems related to finding medicines – confirms the lawyer Luca Pestelli, president of Forlìfarma – One problem is linked to the active ingredient which is in short supply, but the other, stronger one, is linked to the raw materials concerning the packaging, and I mean paper and plastic with which medicines are packaged. Paper is very expensive and this probably affects the production of medicine blisters. It is a situation to which unfortunately we were not used to before but now it is becoming more and more frequent. But I think it is not an alarming situation because, usually, if there isn’t the prescribed drug, the pharmacist switches to the equivalent. And if there isn’t even the equivalent, the pharmacist recommends going back to the doctor to evaluate an alternative therapy and usually I can’t say anything about timing – Pestelli continues – I know we are doing our best to find drugs on the market because our goal is to offer the customer the best service hours, but the problem is not only in Forlì and Cesena, it is a global problem”.
“It is true that some medicines are missing but we must not be alarmist – echoes Fabio Scarlato, pharmacist from Diegaro di Cesena – Usually you can find equivalents in pharmacies, but above all I would say that the therapies are not at risk. The cure is in any case guaranteed, also because, for example, cortisone cannot only be administered via aerosol.If a patient needs cortisone, he can also take it by mouth, obviously it is not a direct therapy like that of the aerosol, but the cure is nonetheless It is true, however, that the customer finds it difficult to understand and remains very perplexed by the absence of commonly used drugs such as Brufen or Nurofen. The fact obviously raises some concern but, unfortunately, due to this crisis of raw materials, we must begin to think that any sector, including the pharmaceutical sector, can be indirectly affected”.