Researchers have warned Australia is suffering a shortage of essential prescription medications – with patients battling to access life-saving treatments.
A study conducted by the University of South Australia revealed Australian pharmacists are at the mercy of unpredictable global supply chains for much-needed products.
Of 142 pharmacists, some 90 per cent said they resort to finding alternative suppliers for medicines weekly.
The same proportion of pharmacists revealed they often substitute similar medicines for those that are unattainable.
‘There have been particular groups of medicine that have been in very short supply and extremely difficult to source,’ Matthew Gillespie of the Pharmacy Guild told Nine News.
Adelaide pharmacist Theo Skrembos said the shortages have affected medications that treat diabetes, cholesterol, and even antibiotics.
Hormone replacement medications have also been in short supply.
Ninety per cent of Australia’s medication is sourced from overseas, and supply issues are hard to predict.
Twenty-four-year-old Harrison Cal said obtaining his daily insulin medications has become a struggle

Mr Cal said he has to call up to 10 pharmacies to get the diabetes medication he needs
‘Obviously that comes with an increased cost, which you have to pass on to your patient then, which during a cost of living crisis, is a little bit unreasonable,’ Mr Skrembos said.
One 24-year-old Australian living with type-1 diabetes, Harrison Cal, said he has been fighting for months to obtain the long-acting insulin medications he requires twice every day.
‘I have to call 8 to 10 pharmacists, and they won’t even stock Levimere or sometimes even Novorapid they do not have,’ Mr Cal said.
The federal government said the shortages are unavoidable and that they are working on a way to ensure more medications are produced on Australian soil.
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