Capsaicin pain creams out of stock until end of June after 'intermittent supply'
The Department of Health and Social Care (DH) has issued a medicine supply notification for two capsaicin cream pain treatments.
The DH last week announced that both Capsaicin 0.075% (Axsain) and 0.025% (Zacin) cream are “out of stock until end of June 2023”, according to the medicines regulator.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) announced last week (March 16) that this comes following “intermittent supplies” of the medications.
Read more: Hours spent hunting downs meds as supply issues persist, PDA survey reveals
It added that while “unlicensed supplies may be sourced, lead times vary.”
Specialist importer Target Healthcare has confirmed it can source unlicensed capsaicin 0.025% and 0.075% cream and “there may be other companies that can also source supplies”, PSNC said.
It comes amid ongoing issues with medicine stock – including hormone replacement therapy (HRT) treatments and antibiotics in particular, as well as over-the-counter cold and flu medicines.
Read more: ‘More to do’: DH to work closely with wholesalers to strengthen drug supply
Pharmacists have also been struggling to source capsaicin creams for some time, citing shortages in August last year and back in 2019 – when the creams were out of stock for several months.
At the time, pharmacists told C+D that patients were not happy with suggested alternatives to capsaicin-containing creams Zacin and Axsain.
Meanwhile, a Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) survey revealed earlier this month that over seven in 10 pharmacists are spending between one and four hours a day sourcing medicines.
