Veteran has PTSD medicine changed on a Post-it
A WAR veteran battling posttraumatic stress disorder claims he is “one tablet away from a war zone” after being warned by Post-it note that his medication is in short supply due to Brexit. Harry Marshall suffers severe flashbacks, trauma and anxiety after he was blown up in Bosnia and saw comrades suffer terrible injuries. He has now been told by his pharmacist that BY STEPHEN STEWART s.stewart@dailyrecoord.co.uk his usual dose of anti-anxiety drug Venlafaxine is not available because of Brexit shortages.
He had a Post-it put on his last prescription telling him only a higher dose version was available.
Dad-of-two Harry, 40 – who also served in Iraq, Northern Ireland and Kosovo – said: “I was due to get a repeat prescription but I didn’t get my original tablets.
“I had new, different meds and there was a wee note saying that the supply of my original medication has dried up.
“When I asked the pharmacist, I was told it was down to Brexit. My medication worked and yet now they have whipped the ladder from under my feet.
“I am one tablet away from a war zone and they find it appropriate to send me the news of no meds on a Post-it note.”
The former lance corporal from Perth served in the Black Watch and the Royal Highland Fusiliers.
He was left with shattered legs and ribs when he threw himself under a taxi near Dundee.
Another time, he fled when two Serbo-Croat men sat next to him at a bus stop. He ended up running head first into a wall, smashing his face open.
Venlafaxine is on a list of 58 drugs which E-Surgery say will be difficult or impossible for patients to access in the event of the UK leaving the EU with no deal.
Patients with cancer and dangerous infections as well as conditions such as epilepsy may suffer as cross-channel supplies face cuts of up to 60 per cent.
A Scottish Government spokesman last night said it was unaware of any shortages.
He said: “Prescribed medicines are reviewed regularly and this can result in a decision to change a medicine.
“This should be done through shared decision-making between the prescriber and patient.”