A Pandora’s box: sustainable pharmaceutical supply

Quilty, Simon; Harris, Lisa M; Kewley, Jacqueline; Jones, Alison; Pearce, Robert; James, Rosemary; McGain, Forbes

doi:10.5694/mja11.11150

Topics

Governments and international agencies need to embrace quality regulation of pharmaceuticals as well as contingency plans

For the first time in six decades, intravenous penicillin will not be available on hospital shelves in Australia. CSL Limited, who distributes benzylpenicillin in Australia, has been informed by their supplier that due to international floods and disasters, there is a critical global shortage. CSL gave Australian hospitals less than 2 weeks’ notice, and have warned that resumption of local supply is not expected until December 2011.

1 Hunter New England Local Health Network, Newcastle, NSW.
2 Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW.
3 Intensive Care and Anaesthetics, Western Health, Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: squilty@med.usyd.edu.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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