Patient in Greece Took His Own Life While Waiting for Drug

A cancer patient in Heraklion, Greece took his own his life earlier this week, as he was unable to bear the pain while waiting for a chemotherapy drug.

Ioannis (Petros) Tournas, a 72-year-old cancer patient, suffered terribly while waiting for the medicine. Meanwhile, his condition was deteriorating. He outlined his ordeal in a note he left for his family.

According to local site Nea Kriti he wrote he could not stand the pain and that he could not sleep. At the same time, he exposed the amount of pain he had endured. He was even unable to make an appointment for an examination with the special Pet Scan x-ray machine available at the University General Hospital of Heraklion to determine if the lung cancer had spread.

Tournas was diagnosed with lung cancer in December, and an appointment was made for him two months later. During the time he was waiting for treatment, the tumor in the lung grew from 6cm to 9.5cm.

In posts on social media, the man’s daughter said he was “broken” by the “dissolved National Health Service.”

Asked to comment on the case, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said that the man had missed an appointment to receive his treatment.

“The medicine was missing for exactly 24 hours. And within 24 hours, we had solved the problem with this medicine…It’s very sad that a person decided to end their life but the National Health System is not responsible,” he added.

Drug shortages in Greece

The tragic incident is a reminder of the chronic drug shortages in Greece. The official list of drugs missing from Greek drug store shelves is larger than the official numbers, according to Greek pharmacists.

Even though the national medicines organization EOF said that the updated lists of medicines facing shortages listed 109 drugs, pharmacists say the real list is much longer and includes drugs such as antibiotics, anti-tetanus serums, insulin, inhalers, and cardiac medicines.

General Secretary of the Panhellenic Association of Drugstores Irini Markaki said there are two main reasons for the shortage of drugs.

Speaking to The Mediterranean Institute for Investigative Reporting (MIIR) recently, she said: “One is, the reduced import of products from some multinationals which are not interested in the Greek market. By an audit we carried out over the last three years, we found out that many multinational companies imported smaller quantities of certain products.

“The second reason—a very important one indeed—is the illegal export—please pay attention because there is also a legal one—that is done by some, in collaboration with pharmacies and some astute people who collect them.”

In January 2023, Greece announced additional measures to deal with certain drug shortages, a problem it said was global and attributed to an increase in seasonal virus infections, supply chain issues, the energy crisis, and reduced exports from Asia.

Thanos Plevris, the health minister at that time, said that, although Greece had enough supplies, the production of generic drugs in Greek factories would be increased and controls at pharmacy stores and large drug warehouses would take place to determine if they possess the reserves required by Greek law.