The Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) wanted to reassure Tuesday in the face of supply tensions for amoxicillin, a very common antibiotic, which has become rare in pharmacies since this fall, but deliveries of which are “currently underway among wholesale distributors.
“Boxes of amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid are currently being delivered to wholesale distributors, who will ensure equitable distribution of them throughout the territory,” writes the ANSM in a press release. “If amoxicillin-based medications are not available, it is always possible for pharmacists to directly deliver a compounded preparation (made for a given patient, according to a medical prescription, editor’s note) suitable for children under 12 years old “, underlines the ANSM.
Already a shortage last winter
In mid-December, the agency noted that the situation regarding the availability of amoxicillin continued to deteriorate, particularly for the drinkable forms used in pediatrics. It was then noted, following a meeting with the players in the drug chain (industrialists, depositaries, wholesale distributors, community and hospital pharmacists), that the manufacturers released their stocks and immediately put them in the disposal. available to wholesale distributors so that they can distribute them equitably to pharmacies across the country.
At the request of the government, stakeholders committed, in a non-binding charter signed in November, to ensuring that the distribution of antibiotics is better distributed in order to guarantee access to patients this winter. Last winter, France experienced a particularly severe episode of shortages of certain medications, including amoxicillin, which had been very difficult to find for many weeks, particularly in its version for children.