Romania's Competition Council investigates shortage of drugs in local market

Romania’s Competition Council has recently completed an investigation on the shortage of certain drugs in the local pharma market. It analyzed a list of 32 drugs that were absent from a sample of pharmacies asking 16 producers and nine distributors about this situation, reports local Profit.ro. The council discovered that one of the main reasons for the absence of certain drugs is the fact that producers provide insufficient quantities for the population’s needs. Moreover, distributors are more focused on exporting the drugs than selling them on the local market. Most producers said that they were not aware that certain drugs were not available in pharmacies. Producers also said that in some cases they were notified about the shortage of drugs but they had done their duty and the lack of drugs was due to the distributors that focused on exports. Distributors also said that they were not aware that certain drugs were not available in the market. Some said that the producers didn’t supply them enough drugs. Other distributors complained about the direct-to-pharmacy relationships in the market, saying that their access was restricted. editor@romania-insider.com