The Phenomenon of Motion Sickness Medicine Sold Out

Journalist | Jaeeun Park | ong114164@naver.com

Designer | Jinyoo Park | truthfree@yonsei.ac.kr

Last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened and home treatment became common, there was a shortage of cold medicine, so-called ‘cold medicine sold out’. It made people difficult to buy cold medicine at pharmacies. Following cold medicine, motion sickness medicine has become a difficult drug to lay hands on at this time. Pharmacists are puzzled because all related products of motion sickness are sold out even though they don’t take the season separately like cold medicine. There are various causes behind the shortage of medicines, but the main problem is that the shortage of motion sickness medicine was due to a surge in demand and a lack of domestic supply. In this article, we will explore the phenomenon of motion sickness medicine selling out.

Soaring in demand

As regulations established during COVID-19 were eased, there was a surge in demand for traveling. Several pharmaceutical companies, including Ilyang Company, said that this seems to have led to a lack of distribution to pharmacies. In particular, Dongsung Company’s “Toslong Solution,” a major product and drinkable motion sickness medicine, exhibited a drop in supplies to Korea. It was that the demand has soared in Vietnam since last year so exports have increased. As such popular motion sickness drugs ran out, supply and demand for other motion sickness drugs also became unstable.

Problem with raw materials and circulation

This phenomenon is also a result of a complex global supply chain that is dependent on raw materials from different parts of the world. Since the COVID-19 pandemic was serious all over the world, it has disrupted the supply chain of many products, including medical supplies and raw materials. Several countries have implemented restrictions on international trade and transportation, resulting in delays and shortages of essential ingredients.

Furthermore, domestic pharmaceutical market heavily relies on raw materials imported from abroad. In the case of motion sickness medicine, Korea imports the majority of raw materials from China. Any disruptions in China, such as the Shanghai Lockdown that lasted over two months, or even war-related issues can lead to delays and shortages of essential ingredients.

Overcoming the problem

Currently, pharmacists have set up out-of-stock notifications on the drug wholesale site and quickly purchase when the notification appears. However, the situation continues in which drugs cannot be obtained because supply and demand do not match. Therefore, pharmacists are arguing that there is a need for a public system that can be responsible for the distribution of medicines. In the case of the United States, FDA operates an integrated management system that can seize the overall supplies and demand for medicines. In Korea, a similar system like the United States should be operated to find out how much production of medicines there is. Even if this public system is not the answer, it is important to improve communication and cooperation between the government and pharmaceutical companies to come up with countermeasures.

Another essential solution is to take steps to increase the domestic production of motion sickness medicine. Diversifying the supply chain by sourcing raw materials from different countries can be the approach of the solution. This would provide a more stable supply chain for pharmaceutical companies and reduce the risk of shortages. The main way to achieve this is by investing in research and development to find alternative sources of raw materials, and having our own technology. It seems to take a long time, but it is the main task left for us and the pharmaceutical professionals. B