From Mr P. J. Beckley, MRPharmS
SIR,—What a relief it was to read Graham Walker's letter about the current shortage of generic medicines (PJ, October 2, p520). Yet again Graham has expressed the frustrations experienced by, it seems, every community pharmacist. For months I have been puzzled by the absence of any correspondence on this subject, leading to a sense of isolation, made worse by the nature and working hours of the job.
May I reassure Rodney Lee that the large multiples are not immune to this problem. We, too, have been unable to get most of the items mentioned. For several days I was forced to send all my bendrofluazide patients to the local independent pharmacy. I now supply my local surgery with a list of currently unobtainable medicines.
In 1996, I wrote to The Journal complaining about the unavailability of Delta-Cortril, following a reduction in pack size (PJ, June 1, 1996, p741). Although Pfizer quickly remedied the problem, it seems that the pharmaceutical industry has still not learnt any lessons from past mistakes.
I can only echo Graham's plea to the Society for PR support on this issue, giving us more time to concentrate on our patients.
Peter Beckley
Crawley,West Sussex