Desperate Britons are forced to beg friends living abroad to send them essential drugs because of NHS shortages By Erin Dean and Pat Hagan Published: 11:52, 7 July 2024 | Updated: 11:52, 7 July 2024 e-mail View comments A nationwide shortage of key pharmaceutical drugs is forcing NHS patients to import them via friends living abroad, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Some are looking as far as India to access drugs – from sources which may not be safe – according to campaigners who argue this dangerous situation is a result of the Government’s failure to tackle the ongoing crisis. The warning follows the launch of a Mail on Sunday drive to ease the shortages for some of the most vital drugs in the country, after new data revealed that, over the past two years, half of patients have struggled to get essential medication they have been prescribed.
Research suggests that some of those in shortest supply include commonly used antibiotics, hormone replacement therapies (HRT) and drugs to treat chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes , cancer , epilepsy, cystic fibrosis and Parkinson’s. Chelsea Oram, 19, from Shaftesbury in Dorset, told The Mail on Sunday her epileptic seizures increased when stocks of her usual drug started to dry up Our End The Drug Shortage Nightmare campaign began last month, after we revealed the shocking story of Gaynor Edwards, a 53-year-old Parkinson’s patient who believes her debilitating condition has got worse due to a shortage of cruc.