Delivery bottleneck at Quetiapin: Patients suffer from a lack of medication!

Delivery bottleneck at Quetiapin: Patients suffer from a lack of medication!

Bad Schussenried, Deutschland - A delivery bottleneck is currently causing great concern in patients who rely on the drug quetiapine retard. The 43-year-old Sabine Jentscheck from Baden-Württemberg, who has suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder since childhood, is particularly affected. The tragedy of her early childhood, when her mother committed suicide, led to a long journey through the world of mental illness. She had been taking Quetiapin Retard for five years, which had previously brought her relief. But since June 2024 she had to experience the elimination of this important drug. "It is like pulling the ground away from me under my feet," she describes her experience in the situation. Schwäbische.de reports that around 30,000 patients in Baden-Württemberg are affected by this delivery. Delivery problems are responsible for competitors.

channels such as the Federal Institute for Medicines and Medical Devices (BfArM) hold a delivery capacity database, but there are no direct alternatives for Quetiapin retard. Psychiatrist Dr. Bettina Jäpel confirms the negative consequences of this situation, especially with regard to sleep disorders. "We lose the certainty of which medication is available," she explains.

The dimensions of the delivery passport

A delivery bottleneck for the Quetiapin Heumann Retard 50 mg retard tablets applies from January 27, 2025 to May 30, 2025. Before the Corona pandemic, there were difficulties in drug delivery, and the current situation forces more and more people to do without important drugs or take alternative treatments. The manufacturer Heumann Pharma GmbH & Co. Generica KG has not suggested any alternative medicines, which makes the situation even more precarious. The pharmacist Eva Kolwe criticizes the collaboration in the supply system and appeals to the need for a better integration of everyone involved.

To cope with this problem, a law to combat medication bottlenecks was adopted in July 2023. The EU has also reacted: the new EU health health program "EU4Health" aims to improve the availability of medication and calls for measures to promote pharmaceutical production to Europe. This includes financial incentives and the creation of a "European emergency pharmacy".

The search for solutions

Although experts have skepticism about the quick availability of quetiapine, Jentscheck hopes that she can switch to other medication. She does not want to turn back to the medication, although it once helped her a lot. Instead, she now appears in a clinic as a recovery attendant and has built up a network to support those affected. "We are stronger together," she recognized.

Another problem is the globalized drug production, which often leads to bottlenecks. The conversion of production to Europe could be one of the solutions to reduce dependencies. More and more voices are being loud, which are demanding to rethink to avoid future delivery bottlenecks. news.de confirms the need that both pharmacies and patients actively look for alternatives.

The current bottleneck at Quetiapin Retard clearly shows that action is required in health care - quickly. Patients like Jentscheck must be able to rely on a more stable and better supported system. This is the only way to ensure that the population is not abandoned in times of crisis.