August 23, 2023

A Shortage of Drugs


A Shortage of Drugs
Medicines. Marko Verch, Flickr

Russian hospitals recently received a communication from the Ministry of Health containing a list of 196 medicines that could vanish from the Russian market in the near future. The note advised medical practitioners to consider this information when prescribing medications and to explore alternative treatment options when possible.

The list encompasses a range of medications, including some discontinued due to obsolescence and others that are especially specific. Still others are life-saving.

Healthcare professionals have said that the lack of modern antibiotics crucial for patients in critical conditions, such as Sivextro and Invanz, will be particularly impactful. Additionally, many medicines used in the treatment of oncological disorders are also being phased out of the Russian market. Despite some having local equivalents, there are concerns that insufficient research validates the effectiveness of such substitutes.

Another important drug on this list is the French drug Solian, which is used in the treatment of schizophrenia and has no analogs among Russian-manufactured drugs.

According to the media outlet Kholod, several suppliers are exiting the Russian market due to the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, the devalued ruble exchange rate, and government price controls. Even companies operating within Russia, selling in rubles, find it challenging to sustain operations since they must compensate shareholders in foreign currencies. "It is easier for them to leave the market," said Yury Meshcheryakov, a specialist in clinical pharmacology.

At the same time, some doctors interviewed by journalists believe that the Ministry of Health sometimes colludes with the largest Russian pharmaceutical manufacturer, R-Pharm, in order to create unfavorable conditions for its competitors and squeeze them out of the market.

After its initial notice, the Ministry of Health announced that it would send "updated information" later. However, at the time of publication of the Kholod article, he had not done so. This may be due to the leakage of the first letter through specialized channels, which could frighten the department.

The drying-up of the Russian drug market is not new. Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of popular drugs disappeared from pharmacies. Among them were antitumor agents, antihistamines, antibiotics, antipyretics, and blood pressure medications. Among the drugs that have virtually disappeared from conventional pharmacies is the popular drug Ozempic, used by people with diabetes. It can be found at illegal dealers at a price eight times higher than its usual value.

You Might Also Like

Antidepressants on the Rise
  • August 03, 2023

Antidepressants on the Rise

Antidepressant use in Russia has skyrocketed over the last year, especially in St. Petersburg.
No Money, Only War
  • March 29, 2023

No Money, Only War

Russian authorities blame the "special military operation" for the disruption of infrastructural and social projects.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955