2023-11-07 05:57:49
A new drug shortage – this time affecting patches to combat menopausal symptoms – is forcing women to ration them by cutting them in half or to turn to different alternatives.
“I’m dysfunctional if I don’t have a tone. I need it to function, it’s not a vanity,” says Isabelle Bérubé straight away. The woman in her 50s has been using estradiol patches for three years to control symptoms related to menopause.
The shortage of stamps began two months ago, indicates the general director of the Quebec Association of Pharmacy Distributors (AQDP), Hugues Mousseau.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SYRUS REPUTATION
The general director of the Quebec Association of Pharmacy Distributors (AQDP), Hugues Mousseau, in 2017
Inventory levels have decreased, then the complete shortage has been in effect for about a month.
Hugues Mousseau, general director of the Quebec Association of Pharmacy Distributors
Isabelle Bérubé uses patches with a concentration of 50 µg. When she tried to refill her prescription at the end of October, she was given 37.5 mcg patches, the only ones left at her pharmacy. “That’s when I learned there was a shortage. No one called me to warn me,” she said.
However, the slightest variation in dose affects it. “I can’t go from 50 to 37.5, it’s going to be horrible for weeks,” she says. She therefore opted for the 100 mcg patches that she had kept since her trials with different concentrations. “I cut them in half to make 50, but I only have enough left for a month maximum. When I get to the end of these stamps, I don’t know what will happen,” she says. Other women told The Press also have to cut their stamps in half.
The situation closely monitored
A stamp production problem is involved, indicates Hugues Mousseau. The manufacturer Bayer, which produces the Climara patches, expects stocks to return around mid-December. Estalis stamps, from manufacturer Sandoz, are also in short supply and the company expects a return in November. “This is a file that we are following closely. As soon as we have new deliveries of stamps, we will make them available to pharmacies,” he says.
The hormone estradiol in gel form is, however, an alternative solution offered in sufficient quantity in pharmacies in Quebec, he specifies. Oral tablets can also be offered, indicates Marie-Pascale Beaulieu, director of pharmaceutical services at the Quebec Association of Proprietary Pharmacists (AQPP).
Mme Beaulieu maintains that these two methods offer similar results to those of patches, but points out that oral tablets may cause a few more side effects in some women.
“But it’s very rare. They are usually well tolerated,” says Mme Beaulieu.
For her part, Isabelle Bérubé considers that the patch is more practical, because she only needs two patches per week, unlike the gel which requires daily application. “But if I have to switch to gel for a few months, I’m going to do it because I really need it,” she says. However, his pharmacist has not yet offered him this option.
For her part, pharmacist Marie-Pascale Beaulieu recommends not hesitating to seek advice from pharmacists and remaining open to other options. “The pharmacist owners and their team are well used to managing drug shortages, because unfortunately it is part of everyday life. »
Popularity of bioidentical hormones
The popularity of bioidentical hormones has surged in recent years in Quebec. In 2021, Véronique Cloutier presented a documentary series, Lot-Lessin which she denounced the lack of information on perimenopause.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Véronique Cloutier
The series led to a petition demanding the reimbursement of hormones commonly called bioidentical by the Régie de l’assurance santé du Québec (RAMQ) which collected hundreds of thousands of signatures.
In May 2022, the RAMQ made the decision to reimburse two bioidentical hormones, namely estradiol-17B in the form of a topical gel and micronized progesterone.
Hugues Mousseau maintains that the shortage of stamps is however not due to an unusual fluctuation in observed demand. “It’s due to production issues,” he said.
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