Shortages legislation is lauded in Australia

Legislation passed by Australia’s government aimed at better informing patients about medicines shortages has been applauded by the country’s Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (GBMA). Under the new law – which will come into effect from 1 January 2019–shortages of ‘important’ medicines must be reported “as soon as they occur”, while the removal of any critical drug from the market must be notified to the Department of Health “at least 12 months in advance, or as soon as possible”.