A lecturer in medicine has blamed Britain's exit from the European Union for a shortage of some medicines.,Dr. Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at The University of Exeter Medical School, told Sputnik that the recent shortage of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and some other drugs — including insulin, antibiotics and antidepressants — was thanks to the UK leaving the bloc two years ago.,"There is a failure of authorities in the United Kingdom to what we call in English, address the elephant in the room," he said.,"Trade between the European Union and the United Kingdom is affected and it is affecting supplies of essential radio isotopes as well as antibiotics and cancer treatments," Pankhania said, "As well as other medicines. And this is a consequence of Brexit.",However, the Daily Express reported that the lack of HRT since April this year was caused by a shortage of material imported from the Far East.,The academic accused the government of having its head in the sand over the issue amid the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister.,"Ministers are in denial and do not want to address the big issue, which is our trade with the European Union, including pharmaceuticals, is affected," he reiterated. "They are pretending that it is not an issue. It is an issue and they are not addressing it.","What we really need is for the medical profession, for the pharmaceutical profession, for the other health care workers to have one voice and say it, loud and clear" Pankhania stressed.,WorldUK Pharmacists Warn Medicine Shortages Put Patients at Risk08:40 GMT,The senior medic warned that the problem could affect patients "across the board" in the National Health Service (NHS).,"They are across a range of ailments. They range from patients who need radio isotopes for cancer therapy," Pankhania said. "There are patients who need insulin for diabetes. And then there are patients who also need, for example, hormone replacement therapy".,A survey of 1,562 UK pharmacists for the Pharmaceutical Journal established that more than 54% of respondents said that patients had been put at risk in the last six months due to medicine shortages.,“We had to ration it, and this has potentially put patients at risk of vitamin deficiencies,” a pharmacist was cited as saying.,In response, a spokesperson for the UK Department of Health and Social Care insisted that they “take patient safety extremely seriously, and […] routinely share information about medicine supply issues directly with the NHS [National Health Service] so they can put plans in place to reduce the risk of any shortage impacting patients, including offering alternative medication.”

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