MPs call for urgent review into medicines shortages

A group of 45 cross-party MPs have signed a letter calling for health secretary Wes Streeting to commission an urgent review into medicines shortages.

In the letter, published on 24 February 2025, the group of MPs said it was “crucial” that the cause of medicine shortages and potential solutions “are understood if we are to safeguard people’s health and ensure they have their life-saving medications”.

It follows concerns expressed by coroners over shortages of epilepsy and ADHD medicines in December 2024, after the deaths of two patients, including David Crompton, aged 44 years, who was unable to obtain his medicine and died during a seizure on 13 December 2024.

“There are 630,000 people in the UK with epilepsy. As members of parliament, we all have constituents whose lives have been deeply, sometimes irreversibly, damaged by the shortage of medications they need to function and live,” the letter added.

“The delays experienced in getting their vital treatment have forced patients to go without their medication or switch to inadequate alternatives. Doing so places those with epilepsy at risk of sudden, sometimes fatal, seizures.”

The MPs worked alongside several charities on the letter, including the Epilepsy Society, Epilepsy Action and SUDEP Action.

Results of a survey of almost 1,500 people with epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease, published in March 2024 by the charities with Parkinson’s UK, show that 70% of respondents had experienced difficulties in getting medicines; 55% of respondents visited multiple pharmacies before getting their prescription fulfilled; and 66% of respondents were given a fraction of their medicines owing to limited supplies.

Many of the respondents to the survey reported a worsening of symptoms owing to the medicines shortages.

The charities said in a joint statement: “Over the last year, we have been calling on the government to commission a review of the medicines supply chain, and we have warned about the potential for breakthrough seizures caused by lack of medication to be fatal.

“We hope the health secretary will now appreciate the urgency of addressing this situation before there is another fatality. The medicines supply chain is a complex and global issue, but people must be assured of their life-saving medication and we stand ready to assist in finding a solution to this ongoing issue.”

Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster and Wyre, said the recent deaths highlighted by coroners added urgency to the call for a review of the medicines supply chain.

“Medication shortages have been a crucial issue over the last year, and in our letter, we warned the health secretary that the shortages of epilepsy medications could result in fatal seizures,” added Smith.

“It is vital that the health secretary takes action now before there is another tragedy. One death is a death too many. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of David [Crompton].”

A survey of 6,598 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, conducted by the the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in October and November 2024, found that around 40% of pharmacists said medicines shortages have put patients at risk during the past year, while 56% said that their mental health had been adversely affected by having to deal with medicines shortages over the past year.