Response 239456783

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About you

3. Which of the following best describes you?

Please select one item
(Required)
Medicine sponsor/manufacturer/wholesaler representative organisation
Health professional representative organisation
Consumer representative organisation
Government agency
Research/academia/media
Individual sponsor/manufacturer/wholesaler/retailer
Individual health professional, please specify type
Individual consumer/general public/community member
Other, please specify

6. Have you been affected by a medicine shortage or discontinuation in the last 12 months?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Unsure

7. If yes, please list which medicine shortage(s) and/or discontinuation(s).

Hysone

Planning for medicine shortages and discontinuations

8. What do you do to plan proactively for a medicine shortage or discontinuation? Select all that apply.

Please select all that apply
Monitor medicine availability (supply, demand)
Seek out information about shortages and discontinuations
Manage stock levels
Plan for alternative treatments in case of shortage
Change the way medicine is prescribed/dispensed/taken (e.g. rationing)
Other

9. Please explain in more detail how you plan proactively for a medicine shortage or discontinuation, including any barriers or challenges you experience.

Keep a stockpile of medication to cover for shortages
Use the same pharmacy so they are aware of my ongoing needs
Keep abrest of stock levels via websites and AADAI

Responding to medicine shortages and discontinuations

11. Please outline how you respond to a medicine shortage or discontinuation, including any barriers or challenges you experience.

visit multiple pharmacies to collect stock
i am disabled which makes things more difficult

12. Please describe in detail where any of the following have helped you to respond to a medicine shortage or discontinuation:

a - pharmacist helps by making sure i know of stock levels and they try to supply me
c - access to information regarding shortages

Communicating about medicine shortages and discontinuations

13. Where do you get information about a medicine shortage or discontinuation? Select all that apply.

Please select all that apply
Health professional organisations
Patient organisations
Industry organisations
The TGA and other federal government agencies
State and territory government agencies
The media, including social media
Other sources, please specify

14. What information or updates about a medicine shortage or discontinuation do you find most helpful and from where?

multiple sources

15. What challenges do you face when receiving information about medicine shortages or discontinuations?

available knowledge

16. What challenges do you face when sharing information about medicine shortages or discontinuations?

nil

17. What do you think about the information on the TGA website about medicine shortages and discontinuations?

its ok but the drug companies need to be more proactive

18. Do you have any suggestions to improve the TGA’s communication of this information?

make it more widely known

Impact of medicine shortages and discontinuations

19. Over the past 12 months, how much time did you spend on medicine shortages or discontinuations? What activities took the most time?

a lot of extra time to source medication

20. What were the most challenging activities and why?

finding stock and collecting it before someone else got it
being disabled makes it harder to drive around and physically collect

21. Tell us about the health-related impacts of medicine shortages or discontinuations.

without the medication i can die

22. Are there other impacts of medicine shortages and discontinuations that you would like to mention?

DEATH

Improvement opportunities

23. What is the biggest problem within the following areas that you want fixed, and why?

actual shortages

24. What do you think of the current TGA regulatory framework around medicine shortages and discontinuations?

it could be better
for drugs that sustain life there needs to be more notice and higher stock levels kept

25. Do you have any suggestions about how to improve medicine shortages and discontinuations in Australia (i.e., what does good management of medicine shortages and discontinuations look like for you)?

higher stock levels

26. Do you have any further comments about medicine shortages and discontinuations in Australia?

no

Consent

27. I consent to the collection, use or disclosure of my personal information as set out in the privacy notice and select the following option regarding the publication of my submission:

Please select one item
(Required)
Publish my response, including both my name and organisation's name
Publish my response, without my name but including my organisation's name
Publish my response, without my name or my organisation's name (anonymously)
Do not publish my response