Greece 'facing medicine shortage' - Telegraph The Greek government has compiled a list of more than 50 companies that it says have delayed or halted shipments into the country. The list includes multinational companies such as Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline. Whilst Pfizer, Roche and Sanofi admitted some products had been withheld, GlaxoSmithKline denied the claims. Pfizer admitted that it had withheld the sale of four medicines in the country because "alternatives were available, and because of the parallel trade situation in the country." Roche said it had not halted shipments of medicines to Greece but was restricting supplies to the country's public hospitals, who owe the company £173m. A spokesman for the company added that it was still supplying the hospitals with "critical medicines," and patients were still able to get their products through pharmacies. A spokesman for Sanofi, Angeliki Angeli, said most of the company's drugs on the government list were still available, with the "exception of a couple of dosages/forms where alternatives exist." GlaxoSmithKline Greece denied the claims, saying it had "maintained the uninterrupted supply [to] Greek public hospitals with all its products, irrespective of the accumulated debts." To help combat the problem, Greece's regulator has banned the export of nearly 60 medicines, and is considering bans for a further 300 products. It has also begun investigations into 10 wholesalers and 260 pharmacists who are suspected of breaking the export ban. This month Greece must, with the assistance of its creditors, decide the annual pharmaceutical budget. The budget has been cut severely since the beginning of the economic crisis. The budget fell from 3.7bn (£3.2bn) to 2.4bn (£2.1bn) last year, and commentators are speculating it could be cut to 2bn (£1.7bn) this year.