{"id":208,"date":"2025-06-13T06:27:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T06:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/?p=208"},"modified":"2025-06-13T07:59:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T07:59:31","slug":"bulgarian-epilepsy-patients-struggle-to-access-newer-medicines-amid-shortages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/bulgarian-epilepsy-patients-struggle-to-access-newer-medicines-amid-shortages\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulgarian Epilepsy Patients Struggle to Access Newer Medicines Amid Shortages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Epilepsy patients in Bulgaria are reporting new challenges when it comes to accessing their required medications. These challenges include a lack of advanced therapies, which are commonly used across the rest of Europe. Although Bulgaria&#8217;s healthcare system offers access to some covered treatments, there is growing dissatisfaction from patients and advocacy groups regarding the lack of availability of newer and specialized therapeutic drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Limited Drug Availability Due to Market <\/strong><strong>Limitations<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the main issues is the lack of some epilepsy medicines in Bulgaria\u2019s pharmaceutical market. Pharmaceutical companies often don\u2019t import newer or low-demand therapeutic drugs in ample supply due to the tiny market size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Currently, the National Health Insurance Fund pays for approximately 15 epilepsy treatments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These reimbursements mainly consist of older generic medicines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bulgaria often lacks essential treatments that other EU nations offer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en.euractiv.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-1461077443-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Image Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euractiv.com\/section\/health-consumers\/news\/bulgarian-epileptics-suffering-poor-access-to-drugs-call-on-commission-to-act\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.euractiv.com\/section\/health-consumers\/news\/bulgarian-epileptics-suffering-poor-access-to-drugs-call-on-commission-to-act\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Euractiv<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Restricted Cross-Border Access Because of Prescription Limitations:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients are often forced to travel abroad for treatment due to the limited options available within the country. This is not an easy route, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Prescriptions from Bulgaria may only be accepted in a limited number of other EU countries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many prescription medicines, especially controlled substances, face strict cross-border restrictions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To gain access to the medication, patients are usually required to be reassessed by the clinicians in the purchasing country.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rare Epilepsy Syndromes Face Greater Challenges:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People with more complex and severe forms of epilepsy, such as Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) and Dravet Syndrome (DS), face even greater challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These syndromes require specific treatments which, in some cases, are not routinely available in Bulgaria.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At present, access is very limited for patients over the age of 18.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adult patients and those in smaller groups of patients continue to be underrepresented and remain unserved.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Call for EU-Level and National Cooperation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Patient groups and stakeholders in the healthcare sector are calling for a more unified and practical approach to ensure uninterrupted access to essential medicines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Experts suggest simplifying EU-wide prescription acceptance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Named Patient Programs (NPPs) can provide fast-tracked access and help close the gap.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is ongoing consideration among policymakers and industry stakeholders regarding the improved regulatory frameworks for the importation of niche or low-volume medicines.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Industry Perspective: Working Toward Sustainable Access<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a pharmaceutical company based in Bulgaria, Ikris Pharma understands the impact of having difficult access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We support the frameworks that are ethical, compliant, and collaborative to assist patients in obtaining lifesaving therapies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We are working with healthcare providers (HCPs), distributors, and even global manufacturers as one of the steps towards ensuring that all essential medicines across all therapeutic classes are available and accessible.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News Reference: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euractiv.com\/section\/health-consumers\/news\/bulgarian-epileptics-suffering-poor-access-to-drugs-call-on-commission-to-act\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Euractiv<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> If you are a copyright holder or media representative and have any concerns regarding the news content or images used on this page, please contact us at <strong><a>Info@ikrispharmanetwork.bg<\/a><\/strong>. We will take prompt and appropriate action upon verification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Epilepsy patients in Bulgaria are reporting new challenges when it comes to accessing their required medications. These challenges include a lack of advanced therapies, which are commonly used across the rest of Europe. Although Bulgaria&#8217;s healthcare system offers access to some covered treatments, there is growing dissatisfaction from patients and advocacy groups regarding the lack [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[87,86],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-named-patient-basis-access","tag-access-newer-medicines","tag-epilepsy-patients"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209,"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions\/209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ikrispharmanetwork.bg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}