Breast cancer patients say a drug they need has been missing from Bulgarian pharmacies for almost a month. The drug is Resèligo 3.6 mg, used as maintenance therapy. The importer says it will be back in pharmacies by 16 October.
Resèligo is given every 28 days. It lowers female hormones and stops periods to keep the disease under control. The National Health Insurance Fund pays for it.
The shortage began after Zoladex, which has the same active ingredient, was removed from the positive drug list in August. Health authorities say no notice was filed to halt its sales. Patients say Zoladex can't be found anywhere, which leaves Resèligo as their only option.
The importer of Resèligo called the shortage temporary and blamed higher demand than expected. Nikolay Kostov, head of the Association of Pharmacy Owners, said Zoladex had been the main drug. He said that once the Fund stopped paying for it, demand for Resèligo jumped and caught suppliers unprepared.
One breast cancer patient said oncologists are helpless because they have nothing to replace the drug with. Her biggest fear is that the disease will come back. She hopes the drug will appear and that patients will be able to get it under control.
The Health Ministry said at least 8,000 packs of Resèligo will be available by Friday. A delivery of Zoladex is planned for next week.