61,000 Cancer Patients Skip Meals as UK Creon Shortage Worsens

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Many cancer patients in the UK are cutting back on meals to save a drug facing an acute shortage they need regularly for digestion.

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People diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, cystic fibrosis, and chronic pancreatitis cannot digest food properly without the drug Creon.

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Over 60,000 thousand people in the UK depend on this drug an estimate suggests. About 96% of pharmacies find it hard to supply the drug.

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Olivier Piccard of the National Pharmacies Association described the situation as the “worst stock shortage” and suggested alternative measures.

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The Government has implemented the Serious Shortage Protocol for the drug, which is helpful but does not cater to the core of the problem.

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Another set back is that pharmacies cannot give out substitutes for a drug which might ease the pressure for a while on the supply constraints.

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The Health and Social Care Committee recommended assessing supply chains in 2024 and suggested more flexibility for pharmacies.

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This crisis of supply chain is exacerbated by many issues like Brexit, Europe-wide supply chain problems, and government pricing policies.

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The shortage of Creon exposes vulnerabilities in Uk’s supply chain for medications and stakeholders call for swift reforms.

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