Blood-pressure tablet hitch
Shortage leaves age pensioner fuming
A NATIONWIDE shortage of blood-pressure tablets has left a local man flustered and frustrated after a Geelong chemist was unable to meet his needs.
Sixty-year-old Bernard, who preferred to not have his last name published, made a special trip into town on Thursday to fill out the third repeat of his script and was shocked when the pharmacy came up emptyhanded.
“It’s just not right, I’m supposed to take one [medication] every day and I won’t get in to Monday,” he said
“I have to make another appointment with the doctor to sort this and that’s going to cost me another $100 to fix my blood pressure and more mucking around.”
A nationwide shortage of the Monace 20mg blood pressure tablet was confirmed by a separate pharmacist based at the Community Care Chemist in Belmont.
“It’s not a do-or-die situ- ation, we still have 10mg tablets that the patient can be prescribed,” the pharmacist said. “It’s flexible, the pharmacists just have to go one step further for people.”
Close to six million Australians aged 18 years and over had high blood pressure in 2014/15, according to the Australian Bu- reau of Statistics. These people experience a much higher risk of suffering a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke.
Bernard counts himself lucky that he is fit and healthy for his age but is concerned for those who may be left in the same situation as him.
“I’m not impressed with the way they are distributing the drugs, we [senior citizens] should be stocked up,” he said. “We are all getting to that age now. If I curl up dead tomorrow, you’ll know why.”
The tablets are not expected to be distributed around the nation for at least another two weeks. Those who might be affected should speak to their doctor and pharmacist about alternative options.