The Australian Medical Association is calling for a dedicated medicine shortage forum to improve coordination and communication about disruptions to the supply of crucial medicine.
The proposal is outlined in the AMA's submission to the Therapeutic Goods Administration's (TGA) proposed changes to reporting requirements for medicine shortages and discontinuations .
AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said a dedicated forum could provide ongoing advice on upcoming shortages and solutions, and significantly improve communication to doctors, patients and all other relevant stakeholders.
"The TGA does a good job of managing medicine shortages and discontinuations, which we know can be very unpredictable, but there is room for improvement, and the TGA has recognised this," Dr McMullen said.
"One issue that persists is the challenge of timely, accurate and consistent communication regarding medicine shortages.
"These shortages affect so many people in our community, including doctors, pharmacists and crucially, patients."
Dr McMullen said a medicines shortage forum that met regularly could ensure the TGA's processes are more proactive and better prepared to respond to medicine shortages.
A dedicated forum, consisting of key groups representing medicine, pharmacy, wholesalers and sponsors, could replace the ad-hoc action groups that are normally formed in response to specific shortages.
"Medicine shortages and other disruptions have a profound effect on the community and inadequate communication can result in additional costs for patients, for whom there is often little transparency or forewarning," Dr McMullen said.
"We appreciate the nature of medicine shortages are unpredictable, but this is about giving us the best possible chance to respond to supply disruptions, which remain prevalent in the post-Covid era."
The AMA broadly supports the TGA's proposed measures to strengthen Australia's capacity to manage medicine shortages and discontinuations effectively, but there are some caveats.
For example, the AMA cautions against the TGA's proposal of extending the notice period for discontinued drugs from six to 12 months, as it is not always possible to determine market changes a year in advance.
The AMA's submission suggests a "traffic light" system to communicate phased supply shortages. For example, a "yellow light" could indicate to practitioners to continue current patients on a particular product, but not prescribe any new patients.
