The struggle to get hold of medication in England is set to get worse

"It's just terrifying," Chloe says. "I get panic attacks." The 29-year-old has epilepsy and is struggling to get the drugs she needs to prevent life-threatening seizures.

Her Lamotrigine-based medication is one of hundreds of everyday drugs that are now extremely hard to get hold of in England.

She has other medications that she can easily get, but the one that helps her to safely live her life and go to work is the one that she struggles to get access to.

"In the last few weeks I haven't been able to get the right medications and my seizures came back. I fell and hit my head and have a big scar across my back now from it," Chloe says.

Access to medicines in England is at its most fragile point in years. People living with heart conditions, stroke risks, eye infections, bipolar and ADHD - to name just a few - are among those unable to get the medications they depend on.

Shortages are caused in part by surging global prices. However, the problem is also being exacerbated by a complicated process of funding medicines in the UK.

For patients, it often means rounds of phone calls and anxiety. Chloe says she sometimes sits on the bus for several hours "going on patrol" hunting for the medication she needs.

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Source: BBC News, 1 May 2026

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