The Yomiuri Shimbun
April 07

Production of various medicines at pharmaceutical factories in the Tohoku and northern Kanto regions is at a standstill because of damage caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Pharmaceutical companies are trying to import medicines in case domestic supply falls short, and doctors have been asked to avoid issuing long-term prescriptions, to help stretch the limited stock of certain medicines.

One of the most serious shortages is of levothyroxine sodium, a hypothyroidism medicine. Aska Pharmaceutical Co. accounts for 98 percent of the domestic supply of Thyradin S, a branded version of levothyroxine sodium, but damage suffered by the company's factory in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, has paralyzed operations there.

About 300,000 patients nationwide are believed to be taking Thyradin S, and a lack of the medicine will pose a direct risk to those patients' lives.

A number of professional associations, including Japanese Medical and Dental Practitioners for the Improvement of Medical Care, have asked the central government to support emergency imports of levothyroxine sodium.

Aska has sufficient stocks of Thyradin S to continue supply for about one month, but distribution throughout the country is uneven. Patients in some areas are unable to get their prescription filled, according to members of the association.

Academic societies have called for doctors treating patients outside disaster-affected areas to limit Thyradin S prescriptions to less than one month's supply.

Production at the Iwaki factory restarted on March 25, but output is not at full capacity, so Aska is preparing to import levothyroxine sodium from mid-April to cover the gap.

Abbott Japan Co., which sells Ensure, the leading brand of formula for people who take their nutrition through feeding tubes, said they had to halt supply of the product because the factory that produces Ensure cans was damaged by last month's natural disaster. Abbott said the factory would resume operations in late May.

There is only one alternative to Ensure that is covered by health insurance, a product made by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co.

Abbot said Monday it would resume shipping some Ensure stock in late May produced at a factory in Gunma Prefecture. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has urged the firm to find another factory capable of making suitable cans.

The earthquake and tsunami also damaged Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. factories that produce Rivotril, an antiepileptic drug that is also used to treat panic disorders, and Madopar, a medicine for Parkinson's disease.

Chugai has sufficient supplies of both medicines to cover the gap for the time being. In the case of Madopar, patients will be able to change to another drug if stock runs out. However, people accustomed to Rivotril cannot easily change to a different drug, which will present difficulties should the supply problem persist.