In response to the alert from some consumers about the lack of medicines in pharmacies in Mallorca, the Official College of Pharmacists of the Balearic Islands (COFIB) assured this newspaper that “this is not a cause for concern”. According to the sector on the islands, “these are occasional supply shortages” and, as they explain, if a specific product is missing “there is always a substitute for another with the same active ingredient”.

This is a reassuring message in view of the arrival of the Christmas and winter period, a time when users visit pharmacies due to an increase in the number of flu-like episodes, colds, etc. In this sense, the COFIB recognises that “for the moment the situation is under control” and specifies that the main reasons why a medicine is no longer available are the lack of raw materials at source, the lack of distribution in laboratories and other channels, occasional transport problems and the economic crisis, which causes less product to be made.

“There are certain medicines that, depending on the brand, may not be available, but the user will find another with the same active ingredient as a substitute,” they acknowledged. COFIB sources also pointed out that “there are tools that raise the alarm if a medicine is missing”, alluding to the monitoring system that the sector has, in coordination with the Ministry and the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS).