Low Prices Cause Breast Cancer Drug Shortage In Turkey

19 Jun 2017

• By Ahmet Sevindik

Low prices for drugs in Turkey, due in part to official exchange rates used to set local prices, have long been a problem, but the issue has come to a new head following serious shortages for a breast cancer therapy.

Some breast cancer patients are facing a difficult situation in Turkey given recent local shortages of tamoxifen, which is used to treat hormone receptor-positive disease and is a first choice in the country for premenopausal women needing treatment. The estrogen-blocking drug is also used in postmenopausal women with breast cancer who cannot be treated with aromatase inhibitors.

For at least three months now, it has been very difficult to find generic tamoxifen, which is produced and imported...