Medicine shortages in France 🇫🇷 — rupture de stock

Key facts

• As of 5 November 2026, 150 medicines have open availability reports in France (181 product-level reports).
• 0 new reports were filed in November 2026.
• Most common stated cause: active-ingredient (API) supply issues (23 reports).
• Longest-running open case: SEMAP 20 mg , comprimé, since 2013-06-14.
• Official source: ANSM (France), checked daily.

181 product-level reports are open, 0 new reports were filed in November 2026. Where the register states a cause, the leading ones are active-ingredient (API) supply issues (23) out of 23 reports with a stated cause. The longest-running open case is SEMAP 20 mg , comprimé, reported on 2013-06-14 — about 161 months ago.

How to read this register: ANSM tracks ruptures de stock and tensions d'approvisionnement for medicines of major therapeutic interest — a curated, clinically-weighted list rather than every pack.

How medicine shortages are managed in France

France concentrates its rules on MITM — médicaments d'intérêt thérapeutique majeur, medicines whose interruption would endanger patients or that lack real alternatives. That is why the ANSM list is short and clinically weighted rather than exhaustive.

Companies must hold safety stock for every MITM sold in France — at least two months' cover, which ANSM can raise to four months for products with repeated shortages — and must maintain shortage-management plans.

Anticipated ruptures must be declared to ANSM in advance, and ANSM has imposed financial sanctions on companies that failed to meet their supply obligations.

On the ground, pharmacies feed the DP-Ruptures reporting network, and for listed ruptures ANSM issues case-by-case dispensing recommendations that can authorise substitution, unit dispensing or reservation for priority patients.

What to do if your medicine is affected in France

ANSM publishes case-by-case recommendations for medicines of major therapeutic interest — the register link on each row leads to them. Pharmacies follow ANSM guidance during ruptures, including substitution where permitted; your pharmacien can check the DP-Ruptures status and equivalents. Never stop a treatment on your own — confirm any switch with your pharmacist or prescriber.

Searched locally as: rupture de stock, tension d'approvisionnement, médicament indisponible.

Newest reports

All affected medicines

Shortages by country

Frequently asked

How many medicines are currently in shortage in France?

As of 5 November 2026, 150 medicines have open availability reports in ANSM (France), covering 181 product-level entries. 0 new reports were filed in November 2026.

Where does France publish its official shortage list?

ANSM (France) — this page aggregates it daily and links every entry back to the official record. ANSM tracks ruptures de stock and tensions d'approvisionnement for medicines of major therapeutic interest — a curated, clinically-weighted list rather than every pack.

Can a French pharmacist substitute my medicine during a rupture de stock?

For medicines under an ANSM recommendation, yes — the recommendation defines exactly what pharmacists may dispense instead, sometimes without a new prescription. Outside those cases, normal generic-substitution rules apply; your pharmacien checks DP-Ruptures and the ANSM entry linked from each row here.

Why does France run out of medicines despite mandatory safety stocks?

The two- to four-month MITM stock buys time but does not create manufacturing capacity: most stated causes in the register are production incidents and global demand surges upstream of France. The list you see here is also deliberately selective — ANSM tracks the clinically-critical cases, so each entry tends to be serious.

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Newsrooms and health sites may embed the live France shortage count — free, with attribution:

<iframe src="https://www.mobidoctor.eu/medicine-shortages/country/fr/embed.html" width="100%" height="130" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e1e0d9;border-radius:12px" title="Medicine shortages in France"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px">Source: <a href="https://www.mobidoctor.eu/medicine-shortages/country/fr/">Medicine shortages in France — European Medicine Shortage Tracker</a> by MobiDoctor</p>