Patients suffer as drugs firms withdraw medicines from market, says pharmacist

PHARMACEUTICAL firms have been accused of causing inconvenience and expense to patients by withdrawing drugs from the market for commercial reasons.

Tim Delaney, the chief pharmacist at Tallaght Hospital, said several well-established drugs were disappearing off the market, causing problems for patients with high blood pressure, rheumatism and other ailments.

He said the withdrawal of drugs had led to a “daft” system where pharmacists had to source unlicensed and often more expensive versions of the same drugs from abroad.