The primary union, the union for community pharmacists (Union des syndicats de pharmaciens d’officine, or USPO) has called for on-call pharmacists to walk out during the Pentecost long-weekend (May 18th to 20th), and for all pharmacies across France to close on Thursday, May 30th.

On-call pharmacists (pharmacie de garde) are those working on Sundays and bank holidays (like Pentecost), as most other pharmacies close on these dates.

While it is still not clear how many pharmacists will walk out, the call for strikes is nationwide and it may be best to plan to pick up any important medicine ahead of time.

Why the strike?

Drug shortages are a large part of the problem because they reportedly force pharmacists to spend more of their working hours doing drug research to be able to offer alternatives to patients. 

Pierre-Olivier Variot, the head of the union for community pharmacists, told Franceinfo that this has led to an extra 12 hours of research time for the average pharmacy.

“These are 12 hours during which we cannot take care of patients. We’re also dealing with tired patients who are frustrated we do not have their treatment,” he said.

Variot also explained that wages have not kept up with inflation, and as a result some pharmacies have had to close. 

Unions are also calling for the French government to better regulate the sale of medication on the internet, in order to ensure quality and safety standards.

Why the shortage of medicines?

The issue has been longstanding, and the situation was made worse during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The French Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) reported that, in 2023, it had 4,925 medicines either out of stock or at risk of being out of stock, an increase of 30.9 percent in medicine shortages compared to 2022.

You can find the list of medications in short supply here.

A spokesperson from ANSM told Le Point in February that there are several things causing the problem, with many of them taking place on a global level.

“There are challenges with the manufacture of raw materials and finished products, as well as qualify defects in the drugs, insufficient production capacity, and division within the manufacturing stages,” the ANSM said.

On top of that, many factories dealing with raw materials are located outside of Europe.