Looking for a supply chain story, I found people
When I started working on this blog, I was looking for a topic related to supply chains.
Drug shortages seemed like an obvious choice. There are reports, statistics, yearly overviews — plenty of material that shows how serious the situation has become.
But numbers alone felt insufficient.
While preparing the article, reading reports and background materials on my computer, I came across a reportage in de Volkskrant. It told the story of Edwin and Anne, whose baby was diagnosed with epilepsy and depended on medication that suddenly wasn’t available at their local pharmacy. The advice they received was to try neighbouring countries — Belgium or Germany — and to do so quickly.
This was not presented as an exceptional emergency. It was simply the next practical step. That story changed the way I looked at the topic. Not because it was shocking or dramatic, but because it quietly revealed what drug shortages actually mean for people who are directly affected.
This story wasn’t unique
As I continued reading, it became clear that Edwin and Anne’s experience was not unique.
Other media reports describe parents who cannot access antidepressants for their children, patients forced to switch stable therapies because a familiar medicine has disappeared, and families who spend weeks navigating uncertainty, phone calls, and temporary solutions. These stories rarely make headlines for long, but together they form a consistent pattern.
Behind every shortage, there are people adapting to situations they did not choose — and often do not fully understand.
That is when the reports started to make more sense.
What the numbers tell us — and what they don’t
According to data published by the European Medicines Agency, medicine shortages have become a structural issue across Europe rather than isolated incidents. Hundreds of medicines are affected each year, including products that are considered essential for daily care and chronic conditions .
National data from the Netherlands confirms this trend. The Dutch pharmacists’ association KNMP reported that in a single year more than 1,500 medicines were temporarily unavailable. Nearly 200 of these were classified as life-essential, meaning interruptions can have serious clinical consequences. Millions of patients were affected by these shortages in one way or another .
These figures are important. They show scale, frequency, and persistence.
What they do not show is what it feels like to be told that a medicine is unavailable, without a clear timeline for resolution. They do not show the stress of switching therapies, the fear of relapse, or the effort required to manage uncertainty over weeks or months.
Where the supply chain becomes fragile
From a supply chain perspective, the reasons behind drug shortages are complex but not mysterious.
Many essential medicines are older, low-margin generics. Their production is concentrated among a small number of manufacturers, often relying on global supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredients. When a production issue occurs — whether due to quality problems, capacity constraints, or unexpected demand — there is often no immediate alternative supplier.
At the same time, strong price regulation keeps medicines affordable, but also makes certain markets less attractive when supply is limited. As pharmacists frequently point out, countries with lower prices may receive deliveries later when production resumes.
None of these factors alone causes shortages. Together, they create a system with very little resilience.
The invisible work in between
One aspect that is rarely visible outside the healthcare system is the workload created by shortages themselves.
KNMP and EMA data shows that pharmacists spend up to 11 hours each week managing supply problems: searching for alternatives, consulting with physicians, adjusting prescriptions, and explaining changes to patients. In many cases, switching medicines is clinically sensitive and carries risks — particularly for conditions like epilepsy, depression, or thyroid disorders.
This work does not appear in supply statistics, but it directly affects patient safety and continuity of care.
Why people must remain at the centre
Reading the reports after reading the stories made one thing clear: drug shortages are not just logistical failures.
In the end, it is people who have to deal with the consequences. Parents, patients, pharmacists and doctors are left to manage the uncertainty, even though the reasons behind it lie far beyond their control.
This article is not an argument against data or analysis. On the contrary: reports from organisations like the EMA and KNMP are essential to understanding the scope of the problem. But without stories, the numbers remain abstract.
People give them meaning.
Why this matters for the conversation ahead
This is the third article on this blog.
t starts with people, because that’s where the impact is most visible. The data helps explain how we arrived here — and why situations like the one Edwin and Anne faced are becoming more common rather than exceptional.
In the next article, I will look more closely at what can go wrong in pharmaceutical supply chains and production, and why relatively small disruptions can have such far-reaching consequences.
But that analysis only matters if we remember who ultimately carries the risk.
References:
- Hoe het medicijntekort in Nederland de baby van Edwin en Anne in gevaar bracht: ‘Ga nú naar België of Duitsland – Volkskrant – 8 August 2023
- Door medicijnentekorten zitten Sandra’s kinderen zonder antidepresiva –www.eo.nl – 6 March 2024
- Opinie: Een struktureel medicijntekort bestrijd je alleen door de productie weer in eigen hand te nemen – Volkskrant – 31 January 2024
- Medicijntekorten stijgen door; dit jaar al gebrek aan meer dan duizend geneesmiddelen – Volkskrant – 3 July 2023
- Medicijntekorten in twee jaar tijd gehalveerd, maar apothekers nog niet gerust – Volkskrant – 26 January 2026
- Patiënten in nood door medicijntekorten: essentiële geneesmiddelen ontbreken op grote schaal – AD- 9 january 2025
- Geneesmiddelentekorten in 2025 – KNMP report- January 2026
- PGEU – European Community Pharmacists – PGEU Medicine Shortages Report 2024