Recent survey by pharmacy publication Chemist+Druggist revealed that shortage of medicines is taking toll on the health of the patients.

Findings of the survey were based on the data collected from more than 150 community pharmacies. Almost all the pharmacists surveyed claimed that unavailability of medicines is causing patients "extreme distress".

Nearly half of the study subjects said that up to 20 drugs were out of stock but a quarter believed that between 20 and 50 drugs are unavailable.

Drugs weight loss drug Xenical and antipsychotic Zyprexa are very hard to set. Some pharmacist claimed that availability of drugs has led to admission of patients in hospital.  

One pharmacist during survey revealed that long wait for the anti-depressant Cipralex led to panic attacks in a patient. Another pharmacist said that the wait for the breast cancer drug Femara had caused "extreme distress" to a patient.

Roger Odd, a trustee of the Patients' Association, added: "There are 50 or more medicines that have been out of stock, it's unbelievable. It can't be right for patients to be suffering like this."