Medicine shortages in Italy 🇮🇹 — carenza di farmaci

Key facts

• As of 5 November 2026, 836 medicines have open availability reports in Italy (2,150 product-level reports).
• 158 new reports were filed in November 2026.
• Most common stated cause: manufacturing problems (1,201 reports).
• Longest-running open case: Ampicillina sodica, since 2016-02-24.
• Official source: AIFA (Italy), checked daily.

2,150 product-level reports are open, 158 new reports were filed in November 2026. Where the register states a cause, the leading ones are manufacturing problems (1,201), commercial decisions or discontinuation (477) out of 2,115 reports with a stated cause. The longest-running open case is Ampicillina sodica, reported on 2016-02-24 — about 129 months ago.

How to read this register: AIFA's carenze lists are grouped by mitigation: equivalents available, alternative treatment available, or import authorisation possible — the alternatives column reflects that.

How medicine shortages are managed in Italy

Marketing-authorisation holders must notify AIFA well ahead of a foreseeable supply interruption; AIFA publishes the resulting carenze lists — the largest register in this tracker — split by remedy rather than lumped together.

For shortages without an Italian equivalent, AIFA can authorise importing a foreign version of the same medicine, and it can block exports of medicines in shortage to keep stock in the country.

Italian pharmacies routinely dispense same-substance equivalents under the national substitution framework, so an entry on the equivalents list usually means inconvenience rather than interruption of treatment.

Hospital-channel medicines run through regional procurement, where shortages are managed by tender substitution — the reason some hospital products appear here long before patients notice.

What to do if your medicine is affected in Italy

AIFA's lists are organised by remedy: equivalents available, an alternative treatment available, or import authorisation possible. If your medicine sits on the import list, your doctor or pharmacy can pursue AIFA's authorisation to source a foreign equivalent; otherwise your farmacia can identify same-substance equivalents. Never stop a treatment on your own — confirm any switch with your pharmacist or prescriber.

Searched locally as: carenza di farmaci, farmaco introvabile, farmaci carenti.

Newest reports

All affected medicines