The Latest Breaking News from Antibiotics

Pharmacists granted powers to supply alternative penicillin

A major update has been issued regarding the supply of Strep A antibiotics in Scotland amid a surge in cases.

Pharmacies have complained they are facing financial ruin amid claims that wholesalers have vastly inflated prices due to demand

Competition and Markets Authority gathering evidence after drug companies accused of inflating prices

It is something of a horror story. Children are getting sick with a perfectly treatable illness but parents are struggling to get their hands on the right drug — penicillin, no less — and some are dying. People are visiting eight, nine pharmacies and travelling to different cities to fill…

Parents and doctors alike fear meningococcal infection, which has been in the news again. Doctors never want to miss a diagnosis, as early treatment with antibiotics may be life-saving. Parents fear the disease because up to 10% of children who become infected die from the disease and its complications.

“I had a young girl who was autistic, five-years-old, come into my pharmacy with a Strep A throat infection and we haven’t got the antibiotics in. Her father is now going from pharmacy to pharmacy to find the right antibiotics for his daughter"

Sixteen children have now died in the UK from invasive Strep A illness

Concerns raised over pharmacists’ losses as market prices outpace NHS reimbursement tariffs