Dangerous shortage

Half a trip around the world for the right diabetes medication

To get the diabetes medication trulicity for his wife, Manfred S. had to drive from Peuerbach to Linz. The medicine was not available in any pharmacies in the immediate vicinity.

(Bild: Harald Dostal, Krone KREATIV)

Because a special diabetes medication for his wife was out of stock, a man from Peuerbach (56) had to drive a total of 100 kilometers there and back to the pharmacy. Thomas Veitschegger, President of the Chamber of Pharmacists, knows why such preparations are on the shortage list.

Manfred S. (56) was on the phone for four hours: "I called 30 pharmacies in Ried, Schärding, Andorf and the surrounding area." The self-employed man from Peuerbach in Upper Austria finally found what he was looking for in Linz: A pharmacist still had two packs of the diabetes medication trulicity in stock, which his wife needed. So the 56-year-old got into his car and drove more than 100 kilometers there and back to get the medicine.