What to do when your medication is in shortage
Finding out your medication is back-ordered is stressful, but in most cases there is a workable path, and it usually starts at the pharmacy counter rather than the doctor's office.
First: do not stop or stretch your medication
Never ration doses, split pills, or stop a medication because of a shortage without professional advice. For some drugs (seizure medications, antidepressants, blood thinners, insulin) an abrupt stop is far more dangerous than the underlying condition flaring. Talk to a professional first; call 811 for free health advice in every province if you cannot reach your pharmacy.
Your pharmacist can do more than you think
Pharmacists are the front line of every shortage, and their powers have expanded in every province:
Substitute manufacturers. If Teva's version is short but Apotex's is not, your pharmacist swaps it, no new prescription needed. This resolves most partial shortages invisibly. Check your drug's rxstat page to see whether unaffected manufacturers exist.
Adapt the prescription. In most provinces pharmacists can change the strength or form (two 25 mg tablets instead of one 50 mg, liquid instead of tablets) and in many they can substitute a therapeutically equivalent drug in the same class, depending on the province and drug schedule.
Find stock. Pharmacies can check distributor inventory and other locations in their chain. Calling around, or asking your pharmacy to, still works; independent pharmacies and hospital-adjacent ones sometimes have different wholesalers.
When you need a prescriber
If every manufacturer is short (a widespread shortage on rxstat) and there is no same-class substitution your pharmacist can make, you need a prescriber to choose an alternative treatment. Bring the shortage information with you: the rxstat page for your drug shows what is affected and the manufacturer estimates, which saves the appointment time spent establishing the basics.
Practical tips
Refill a few days early during an active shortage (insurers and pharmacists generally accommodate this; hoarding months of supply makes shortages worse for everyone). If you take a drug with a history of repeat shortages, ask your pharmacist to flag your file. And check the drug's page here before each refill; estimated end dates move, and this site updates through the day from Health Canada's mandatory reports.
Written and maintained by rxstat. Sourced from Health Canada's mandatory shortage reporting; not medical advice. Disclaimer.