People with schizophrenia struggling to find medication amid nationwide quetiapine shortage
Heidi Everett spent her New Year's Eve trying to find a pharmacist with her medication in stock. (ABC News: Leonie Thorne)
In short:
An antipsychotic medication often prescribed to people with schizophrenia or bipolar is in short supply.
Pharmacists and doctors have told the ABC they were not made aware of supply issues until the issue was raised by patients who could not find refills.
What's next?
The TGA says shortages are expected to be resolved in a few months and in the meantime, people can try and source other generic versions instead.
While Heidi Everett's friends spent New Year's Eve celebrating, she spent it driving between pharmacies trying to find the medication she depends on.
The artist and disability advocate takes quetiapine, also known by its brand name Seroquel, for a form of schizophrenia.
"I was crying in the chemist and I couldn't hold myself together, because I'm terrified of what happens if I don't take my meds," she said.
She tried five pharmacies in her local suburb in Melbourne and all she could get was a few days' supply.
Quetiapine is an antipsychotic medication that people who live with schizophrenia or bipolar rely on.
Pharmacists say they are struggling to source quetiapine, known by the brand name Seroquel. (ABC News: Nic MacBean)
There is currently a nationwide shortage of the drug.
According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), availability of a 300mg version and a 25mg version of quetiapine is limited, and two 25mg versions are unavailable.
Between October and December last year, the TGA added these drugs to its shortages database, but a number of pharmacists told the ABC they only found out they were not available when suppliers revealed they had no stock.
Heidi only discovered the problem was nationwide when people from across the country responded to a post she wrote about the issue on social media.
She told the ABC she had been prescribed a number of drugs over the past 30 years to treat her symptoms, but quetiapine was the only one she could tolerate.
This leaves her with few options when she can not get it.
"In our moment of need, we're [people with complex mental health] the ones that have had to work out how to get through this," she said.
Manufacturing issues behind shortage
The companies whose products are in shortage — Arrotex, Sandoz and Accord Healthcare — have blamed manufacturing constraints and say there are other generic products available.
But many people who use the drug are struggling to find alternatives, including the brand name version, Seroquel.
Multiple pharmacies contacted by the ABC said they did not have any quetiapine in stock.
Jenna Cormack says many pharmacies are out of stock. (ABC News: Scott Preston)
Pharmacist Jenna Cormack said in the past few weeks she had not been able to get any stock of the brands her customers were most familiar with.
"We've had people calling dozens of pharmacies trying to source the medication that they desperately need," she said.
The TGA said there were higher doses available that could be halved or quartered to get smaller doses.
Jenna Cormack said that was not an easy alternative because 100mg tablets were not scored to allow them to be broken into four pieces.
"There's no guarantee you're getting an exact 25mg dose," she said.
Pharmacists say when cutting a larger tablet into smaller pieces, it's hard to ensure the doses are accurate. (ABC News: Scott Preston)
Concerns about side effects
People who take quetiapine are advised not to stop taking it suddenly due to the risk of side effects or relapses.
Abruptly stopping the drug can cause dizziness, nausea and insomnia, which can worsen mental health symptoms.
Heidi said it was a very real fear for her and other people who use the medication, if they could not find supplies amid the shortage.
"I've experienced suicidal depression and suicidal episodes as recently as the last few months, so that can all happen within about two weeks if I stop this medication," she said.
Doctors also said they did not know what was happening with the drug.
Dr Toby Gardner said not being able to access the medication could have dire consequences. (ABC News: Morgan Timms)
Dr Toby Gardner, Tasmanian chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said GPs often heard about drug shortages first from pharmacists and then from patients asking for alternatives.
"This has only just come across our radar," he said.
Heidi believes health authorities should do more to make society accessible for people with complex mental health.
"That includes making our medication available or letting us know when it's not," she said.
"I don't want to end up back in a psych ward because there's no medication."
Heidi Everett believes authorities could do more to help people prepare for medication shortages. (ABC News: Leonie Thorne)
Dr Gardner said people could have acute psychotic episodes if they weren't able to access the medication.
He said there were alternative antipsychotics, but because people could not be abruptly taken off one medication and put on another, it was not easy for doctors to switch a patient's medication.
His view is that quetiapine is one of several medications Australia does not keep enough of.
"We'd love to see even mandates put on minimum supplies of medications being held on shore, particularly those that are critical for people to not stop suddenly," he said.
Dr Toby Gardner said there should be enough quetiapine stockpiled to avoid shortages. (ABC News: Morgan Timms)
Ms Cormack had a similar view and said drugs like quetiapine were critical medications that people needed to function.
"It should be a priority that we can make sure that these things are in stock," she said.
The TGA said the 25 mg tablets shortages were expected to be resolved between late January and late February and the 300 mg tablets were expected to remain in short supply until June 20, 2025.
Arrotex, Sandoz and Accord Healthcare were contacted for comment.
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