A shortage of drugs and antibiotics has affected Carleton’s Prescription Shop, placing a real burden on students’ health care, according to campus pharmacist Brian Stowe.
Within the last three months, Stowe, pharmacist and owner of the Prescription Shop, noted that shortages in drugs at Carleton had become worse.
“We’ve definitely been struggling,” Stowe said. “But between the pharmacists and physicians, we’re really making an effort.”
Recently, when his patients have found their prescribed medication is not stock, Stowe said he referred them back to their doctor and suggested a second choice.
“The patient is not getting the first choice in their medical therapy, and chances are the second choice is more expensive,” Stowe said. “It’s an unfortunate and wasteful system.”
From week to week, the Prescription Shop may be missing three or four antibiotics, and it’s not the only pharmacy facing these challenges.
Stowe, a past president of the Canadian Pharmacist Association, said he believes the issues are largely due to shortages in raw material manufacturers are facing.
According to CBC reports, these raw materials are almost exclusively from India and China, and the shortage in the international supply may be largely caused by the political and natural in those respective areas.
“If manufacturing goes out of stock, [the Prescription Shop] might run out in two days,” Stowe said.
Furthermore, the Ontario government is no longer a big financial supporter of the pharmaceutical industry.
The province made amendments to the Ontario Drug Benefit Act and the Drug Interchangeability and Dispensing Act resulting in a cut in generic drug costs by 25 per cent as of July 1.
These government pressures are among the reasons that the Prescription Shop is lowering its inventory, Stowe said.
Pharmacies and customers would ultimately have to shift to another drug, causing a strain in that supply.
Karim Khamisa, president of the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA), said he believes it’s important to respond to the matter in order to encourage Ontario to raise its funding for prescription drugs.
“The funding to drugs on campus is a necessity for students to stay healthy over the school year,” Khamisa said. “The lack in available resources may cause students difficulties when it comes to keeping up with studies.”
On the other hand, Stowe said he believes there is fundamentally very little he can do.
“It’s out of our realm,” he said. “But as health professionals, it’s in our role to find a cost-effective solution for our patients.”