Testosterone back in stock after stockout
Solidarity march at UCT to raise awareness about drug shortage
Depo-Testosterone, the hormone treatment manufactured by Pfizer is once again back in stock after a nationwide shortage.
Depo-Testosterone, which is the brand name for testosterone cypionate injections, is used by some transgender people and has to be used consistently throughout one’s life. Men who do not produce enough natural testosterone and boys with delayed puberty also use it.
Charmaine Motloung, Pfizer communications manager, said that the supply had been restored and that “most pharmacies have been receiving stock from distributors and wholesalers from last week.”
In a statement on 15 March, Pfizer said that the shortage was outside its control.
Seth Deacon, an organiser at Unite4Transrights, said that he was glad the drug was back in stock. But, he said, this was not the first stockout. “There is no accountability.”
Deacon said he had friends who had been off medication for two months.
Since June last year, Deacon has been using Depo-Testosterone in his transition. When the shortage came into effect his doctor recommended Nebido. But Nebido was not supported by medical aid and it cost him R2,400 for 10ml from his medical savings. Depo-Testosterone costs R400 for the same amount.
Next: Hundreds arrested in PRASA crackdown
Previous: “This is not a man’s world”: protesters demand construction jobs for women
© 2019 GroundUp.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and GroundUp, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.