\n\t\tVets need to find an alternative for dogs currently on phenobarbitone, Sedabarb or Lethyl\n\t<\/p>\n
Vets have warned pet owners of a nationwide shortage of the anti-seizure drug phenobarbitone, as the manufacturer Sun Pharma works to restart production at an upgraded facility.<\/p>\n
Sun Pharma confirmed on Sunday that its anti-seizure medication Sedabarb remained out of stock across South Africa, more than two weeks after vets first warned that dogs with epilepsy faced a life-threatening shortage of phenobarbitone-based treatments.<\/p>\n
Facility upgrade blamed for delay<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Sun Pharma CEO Malcolm Brown said the shortage followed a large-scale upgrade of the company\u2019s Oral Solid Dosage manufacturing facility, which was carried out to meet quality and regulatory standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing completion of these upgrades, the facility is required to undergo the prescribed regulatory inspection and approval process by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) before manufacturing activities can recommence,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
He added that Sun Pharma had stayed in close contact with the regulator throughout the process, and said the company remained \u201ccautiously optimistic that product release can commence towards the end of July 2026, subject to regulatory approval\u201d.<\/p>\n
Vets forced to find alternatives<\/p>\n
The Noordhoek Veterinary Clinic told clients in a Facebook post on 18 June that it had almost run out of phenobarbitone, despite securing a permit to import the drug directly through SAHPRA. \u201cWe did get a Section 29 permit to import directly through SAHPRA, but they also no longer have stock,\u201d the clinic said.<\/p>\n
It advised that dogs currently on phenobarbitone, Sedabarb or Lethyl would need a consultation so vets could find a suitable alternative, warning that some substitute medications carried worse side effects and higher costs. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation is really beyond our control, but we will try our best to assist you and your pets,\u201d the clinic added.<\/p>\n
Sun Pharma said it regretted the inconvenience caused to healthcare professionals, veterinarians and patients\u2019 families, and maintained that restoring supply remained its highest priority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vets need to find an alternative for dogs currently on phenobarbitone, Sedabarb or Lethyl Vets have warned pet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[2681,97,243,686,340195],"class_list":["post-801584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-dogs","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-medicine","tag-south-african-health-products-regulatory-authority-sahpra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}