Skip to content
Rare Medication

Drug shortages and hard-to-find medicines

Find out if a medicine is in short supply, then find a way to get it.

We publish the current FDA shortage status for every medicine in our directory, and we help patients, pharmacies and procurement teams find a licensed source when it is not on the shelf.

Source: FDA drug shortage database - 2,522 medicines covered - refreshed every 6 hours

Who asks us

You cannot get a medicine you or your family need

Start with the shortage page for that medicine: it says whether the FDA lists it as short, which presentations are affected, and what to ask your pharmacy. If it is not available locally, tell us and we will check the licensed suppliers we work with.

We are not a pharmacy. We cannot dispense or ship medicines to you, and we never ask you to buy from anyone unlicensed.

You buy for a hospital, clinic, pharmacy or NGO

Send identifiers, quantity band and destination country. We review licensed buyer fit and regulatory feasibility, then come back with a quotation pathway where one exists.

What happens when you ask

  1. You

    Tell us what you need

    Medicine name or active ingredient, strength, dosage form and the country you need it in. Two minutes, no account.

  2. We

    We check licensed suppliers

    We ask the wholesalers and distributors we work with, and we check what the medicine's regulatory status allows in your country.

  3. We

    You get a straight answer

    On business days we come back with what we found, what it would take, and who to talk to. Including when the answer is that we cannot help.

What we do, and what we will not do

We do

  • Publish the FDA shortage status for every medicine in the directory, with the date we checked it.
  • Take requests from patients and families as well as from licensed organizations.
  • Ask licensed wholesalers and distributors whether a specific presentation can be sourced.
  • Tell you when the answer is no, instead of going quiet.

We do not

  • Sell, dispense or ship medicines. We are not a pharmacy and hold no stock.
  • Promise availability or a price before a supplier has answered.
  • Route anyone to unlicensed sellers or to personal import that breaks local rules.
  • Give medical advice. Dose and substitution decisions belong to your prescriber.

Questions we get a lot

Tell us what you cannot get

Free to ask, no obligation, and no account. If we cannot help we will say so, and we will point you at whoever can.

Who can ask
Anyone
Cost
Free
Reply
Business days

Loading form...