RESUMO
Anti-infective drugs stock-outs are increasingly frequent, and this is unlikely to change. There are numerous causes for this, mostly related to parameters difficult to control: i) 60 to 80% of raw material or components are produced outside of Europe (compared to 20% 30 years ago), with subsequent loss of independence for their procurement; ii) the economic crisis drives the pharmaceutical companies to stop producing drugs of limited profitability (even among important drugs); iii) the enforcement of regulatory requirements and quality control procedures result in an increasing number of drugs being blocked during production. The therapeutic class most affected by drug stock-outs is that of anti-infective drugs, especially injectable ones, and many therapeutic dead ends have recently occurred. We provide an update on this issue, and suggest 2 major actions for improvement: i) to implement a group dedicated to anticipating drug stock-outs within the anti-infective committee in each health care center, with the objectives of organizing and coordinating the response whenever a drug stock-out is deemed at risk (i.e., contingency plans, substitution, communication to prescribers); ii) a national reflection lead by scientific societies, in collaboration with government agencies, upstream of the most problematic drug stock-outs, to elaborate and disseminate consensus guidelines for the management of these stock-outs.
