Medication Shortage in Chinese Pharmacies

A pharmacy in Shanghai told customers that all their common cold and fever medicines had already been sold. At the same time, some popular drugs for treating colds and flu were in short supply, and some drugs were temporarily unavailable.

The pharmacy said it generally received products from large pharmaceutical companies, and that since September 9th, various products had been in short supply, and at the moment they were not able to purchase prescription cough and cold medicines.

A purchasing agent from a hospital told reporters that Chinese manufacturers were the world's leading producers of generic medications, and that Chinese authorities had issued many warning not to return products.

Some local pharmaceutical companies produced products that were mature and copies of brand-name medications, but due to strong demand and limited production capacity, many Chinese medications were in short supply.

The purchasing agent from a pharmaceutical company said that the short supply was due to consumers stockpiling products.

Some local pharmaceutical companies have set "rules" prohibiting customers from returning products once they have been purchased.

A representative from a local pharmaceutical company said that the rapid demand and production difficulties of generic medications were the main reasons for the short supply of medications.