ArticleJournal of pharmaceutical policy and practice2023
The association between drug pricing and drug shortage in Saudi Arabia: a retrospective database analysis.
Article in Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Burden and Impact of Drug Shortages in a Saudi Tertiary Hospital: A Single-Center Cross-Sectional Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Antimicrobial stewardship in community pharmacies in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State: practices, barriers, and facilitators.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026Article
- Drug shortages: clinical implications and burdens - a trinational multiple-methods study including key stakeholders.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Addressing Drug Shortages at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital: A Five-Year Study of Challenges, Impact, and Strategies.Cureus · 2024Article
- Price increase negotiations to address drug shortages in South Korea's national health insurance.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies have suggested that drug pricing could contribute to drug shortages; however, there is limited quantitative assessment of this potential causal association. This retrospective database analysis aimed to investigate the association between drug prices and drug shortage incidents in Saudi Arabia.
methodsThis was a retrospective database analysis study. Drugs with shortage notifications sent to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) between January 2017 and December 2020 were included. Each drug's foreign-to-Saudi price ratio (FTSPR) was calculated by dividing the mean international price by the Saudi price. Drugs were categorized into three groups based on their FTSPR: Group 1 (FTSPR > 1), Group 2 (FTSPR = 1), and Group 3 (FTSPR < 1). The primary outcome was the ratio of mean counts (mCR) between the three groups, with Group 3 serving as the control group. The analysis was adjusted for the measured confounders using a negative binomial regression model.
resultsA total of 900 drugs were included in the study, with 348 in Group 1, 345 in Group 2, and 209 in Group 3. The mean count in Group 1 was higher compared to Group 3 (mCR: 1.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24 to 2.83), while the mean counts between Group 2 and Group 3 were comparable (mCR: 1.39; 95% CI 0.92 to 2.09).
conclusionsOur findings indicate an association between drug shortage incidents and higher prices of drugs outside Saudi Arabia. Further studies are needed to explore this causal relationship in different contexts.
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