Amid shortage, amoxicillin production lab throws away thousands of vials

AFP/Archives – Charly TRIBALLEAU

While France is facing a serious shortage of amoxicillin (the most common antibiotic), the only French laboratory that produces this antibiotic has thrown away thousands of bottles because of simple aesthetic defects. A blessing in disguise ?

While we are praised for their merits and doctors are constantly prescribing them, perhaps it is not so important to have stocks of antibiotics… GSK, the British pharmaceutical giant that owns the site in Mayenne, threw away thousands of bottles, simply because they had slight packaging defects. A slightly damaged bottle, a crumpled label, and these perfectly functional antibiotics went straight into the trash, as Cash Investigation revealed. A situation that is all the more absurd because it is completely unrelated to the health discourse.

According to Cash Investigation, these products were intended for Japan, a particularly demanding customer in terms of packaging. But why did the government not react to this waste by recovering the stocks for France ? Gregory Emery, Director General of Health, assured that he was not informed of the situation, but that he would have demanded a redistribution in France if that had been the case. In the meantime, we'll have to do without it.

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