As addiction doctor Thilo Beck said in an interview with Swiss radio SRF on Thursday, 9,000 people in Switzerland are affected by the bottleneck. Methadone is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an essential drug for the treatment of people with opiate addictions such as heroin. “The existence of these people is in question,” Beck said.
Enea Martinelli, board member of the Pharmacists’ Association, told SRF that imports from abroad are currently very expensive. Each permit costs around CHF 200 and applications can only be made on an individual basis.
The background, according to SRF, is Swiss Therapeutic Products Agency Swissmedic suspending a major manufacturer’s business license and all drug approvals for safety reasons.
According to Martinelli, the company produced methadone tablets, as well as a drug used for anesthesia in surgeries. The federal government has found a solution to this issue in Germany.
The only alternative to methadone is to buy the drug in liquid form or in capsule form from certain pharmacies.
(SDA)