“It is not true that we at the ASP of Reggio do not know that oncological drug, Octreotide 30 mg. Or that it was not there, and that in our opinion it did not exist. It is a drug present in multiple formulations, 10 and 20 mg. In reality, in the 30 mg formulation, it is lacking at a national level, so much so that it appears in the list of lacking drugs”. Lucia Di Furia, the general director of the provincial health company of Reggio Calabria, told ANSA regarding the story of the oncology patient who turned to the police to find the drug she had been prescribed, stating that the company’s pharmacy has a “substitute drug, which is what she then found”.
«There isn’t that drug with that formulation – he added – but we would have found the solution too, without you having to go and look for it in Catania. In Catania we can call, we know each other. In these cases we help each other, especially when we are faced with a national shortage of a drug.”
«The lady – said the added ASP general manager – was informed, after our pharmacist tried to find it from all sides, that the drug was currently missing. And as is done on these occasions, when there is a shortage, as AIFA also prescribes, the patient is told to contact his general practitioner or specialist. Without us knowing anything about it and without having notified her GP, the patient turned to the police, who asked for the reasons for our refusal to supply the drug. Evidently there was a misunderstanding. If he had put one of our oncologists in contact with the one at Sant’Orsola he would have known that there is a replacement drug, which is what he found. So much so that she had a new prescription made. Furthermore, we can have and already have this drug that he then found in Catania. There are some patients who use it and therefore we are purchasing it. It is not a drug that has particular deficiencies.”
«We have taken steps to track down the lady – said the Director of the ASP – whose surname is not the one that appeared in the press because she is not Italian. We found ourselves in this impasse made worse by the fact that in the meantime the same patient had changed her GP.” Lucia Di Furia said that in any case she will try in every way to track down the patient «to find – she explained – the most suitable solution so that every month she no longer has difficulties. It’s not that turning to the newspapers solves the problem. If someone doesn’t respond, we always go to a higher level. I want to express closeness to the lady. I realize that she is not the one who has to find the solutions. But it must put us in a position to find them”