Australia is grappling with a shortage of essential prescription medications, leaving patients struggling to access some life-saving treatments. 

Harrison Cal, a 24-year-old with type 1 diabetes, has been enduring months of  battling to obtain the medications he relies on twice daily.

“I have to call 8-10 pharmacists, and they won’t even stock levimere or sometimes even novorapid they do not have,” he said.

A recent study conducted by the University of South Australia revealed the gravity of the crisis. 

Of 142 pharmacists, nearly 90 per cent said they are compelled to seek alternative suppliers weekly, while the same proportion is frequently substituting medicines.

“There have been particular groups of medicine that have been in very short supply and extremely difficult to source,” Matthew Gillespie from the Pharmacy Guild said.

Adelaide pharmacist Theo Skrembos said the shortages have hit medications related to diabetes, cholesterol, and even antibiotics.

With 90 per cent of medication in Australia sourced from overseas, supply issues can often be lengthy and unpredictable.

“And obviously that comes with an increased cost, which you have to pass on to your patient then, which during a cost of living crisis, is a little bit unreasonable,” Skrembos said.

The federal government says the shortages are unavoidable and that work is under way to ensure more critical medications are made in Australia.