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Cancer patients and others with debilitating conditions have highlighted shortages of a vital drug they say have had a “devastating” impact on their lives.
Creon, a pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (Pert), helps digestion, but has been hard to obtain for the last year and shortages are predicted to last until 2026. It is thought more than 61,000 patients in the UK need it, including those with pancreatic cancer, cystic fibrosis and chronic pancreatitis.
Some patients said through Your Voice, Your BBC News that they have had to cover long distances to find a pharmacist with supplies.
The Department of Health and Social Care says it is working closely with the NHS, manufacturers and others in the supply chain to try to resolve the issues.
Without the drug, patients lose weight and strength, which means their ability to cope with treatment such as chemotherapy is reduced.
Diana Gibb, who is 74, and her husband Mick, 78, live in Tonbridge, Kent. Mick had a major operation to treat pancreatic cancer in 2023. Diana wrote to BBC News explaining that it is impossible for Mick to digest food without creon. She says he was prescribed a high dose to enable him to regain weight after losing four stone in hospital, but became increasingly difficult to get hold of the medicine.
Pharmacies cannot get hold of the higher dosage, and there is no alternative medication. I was worried that my husband would starve to death without them.
Bryony Thomas, who is 34, from Stroud in Gloucestershire, needs creon after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Her cancer is now in remission, but she is still reliant on the drug for her digestive system to work correctly.
Leading pancreatic clinicians and charities including Pancreatic Cancer UK have written to the prime minister saying the absence of Pert can have a “devastating impact on people’s lives”, with doctors and pharmacists “inundated with requests for help from desperate patients”.
The letter says that without the drug, people experience “horrendous bowel symptoms, poor diabetes control, malnutrition, and reduced absorption of other medications, all of which can have a massive impact on their health and quality of life”.
The Cystic Fibrosis Trust says the shortages have caused “significant worry and stress for those affected”.
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