Today in 2017, the United Kingdom officially began its so-called Brexit from the European Union, a process that ended three years later. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society was, naturally, perturbed by the implications of a new trade landscape, which, over the next three years, proved to be prescient, as UK pharmacy news outlets reported widespread increases in cost and barriers to doing business. Late last year, a report by the Independent Commission on U.K.-E.U.
Relations highlighted the affect of Brexit-related border issues on the UK’s medicine supply chain, and the nonprofit Community Pharmacy England called on the government to solve ongoing chain shocks that imperil the health of patients. “All of these have put extra stress on the medicines supply chain, stretching community pharmacies financially and often causing unavoidable delays in patient care,” said Chief Executive Janet Morrison. “Medicine shortages and market instability appear to be as bad as they have ever been and are making life incredibly difficult for community pharmacies and their patients.”
