Furious Seasons

March 25, 2008

South Africa Runs Out Of Psych Meds

Here's one of the weirdest stories I've run across in a while: mental health patients in South Africa are running out of their meds, reportedly because there is a lack of raw materials to make them and pharmacies don't have the drugs in stock. I'm not sure that I buy that explanation (if it's true, then what's going on in China where many raw materials are created?), but it sure does make the hair stand up on my neck to consider what would happen if there were a shortage of anti-depressants, antipsychotics or mood stabilizers in the US or Britain, for example. And whether you like or hate meds, you ought to be a bit concerned about what's going on in South Africa because there must be a bunch of cold turkey withdrawal going on there, and there are likely more than a few patients who will wind up in deep trouble as a result.

It's not clear how this situation will be resolved, but it sure speaks to problems in the international pharma market that this is going on. For all we know, this is the tip of the iceberg.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at March 25, 2008 12:03 AM

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Comments

Reminds me of the question anyone told they'll need one of these drugs for the rest of their lives should ask - what's it made of and is there enough of whatever it's made of to last me the rest of my life. The follow up question would be, if there's not enough of it, or I can't afford it, will getting hooked on it cause more problems than it solves.

Are we finally going to find out what these "drugs" are made of?

Posted by: Sally at March 24, 2008 11:29 PM

China: raw material for the drug, from International Herald Tribune.
LINK

Posted by: mark p.s. at March 25, 2008 05:21 AM

The article mentions anti-retrovirals used to treat AIDS... South Africa has driven a hard bargain for years to try and get livable prices for these life-saving drugs, and pissed off every pharma giant on the planet in the process. There seems to be a fight going on now over generics produced in India.

I would not be one bit surprised to find out that the drugs companies are using mysterious and convenient "shortages" to put the screws to the South African government. They may well be using their control of atypical antipsychotics and other psych drugs to take psych patients as hostages in this fight. ("Solian", mentioned in the article, is an atypical sold by Sanofi-Aventis)

Posted by: Johanna at March 25, 2008 01:18 PM