A few days ago I read an article (Stickman reader submissions) that claimed Thailand had run out of morphine in hospitals for the treatment of the terminally ill.

The author said the reason was bribery. He stated that a Thai company had started manufacturing medical morphine and had paid the officials to prevent any morphine coming into Thai hospitals from their normal overseas suppliers.

This deficiency led to countless people suffering hellish pain after surgery and for cancer patients.

He said the brand was *** and twice the price of the imported brands. Later the brand as a result of investigation was changed to *****.

Can anyone confirm this story? And is morphine still in short supply in Thai hospitals?

There are 3 foreign import brands of oral morphine approved for use in Thailand and no locally produced ones, so certainly can't be true regarding oral forms.

For injectable, there are 2 locally manufactured brands, one made by M&H Manufacturing and one made by T.P. Drugs, and no imported. I don't know if there had been one in the past. But with 2 different manufacturers it seems unlikely that both would be out of stock.

Private hospitals can buy from any licensed supplier. If there is anything to the story it probably refers to government hospitals. The Public Health Ministry probably has a contract with just one supplier so that it would be possible to have a temporary disruption in supply. Which could of course be solved by purchasing from the other but that would entail some beaurocartic hurdles and paperwork.

There are 3 foreign import brands of oral morphine approved for use in Thailand and no locally produced ones, so certainly can't be true regarding oral forms.

For injectable, there are 2 locally manufactured brands, one made by M&H Manufacturing and one made by T.P. Drugs, and no imported. I don't know if there had been one in the past. But with 2 different manufacturers it seems unlikely that both would be out of stock.

Private hospitals can buy from any licensed supplier. If there is anything to the story it probably refers to government hospitals. The Public Health Ministry probably has a contract with just one supplier so that it would be possible to have a temporary disruption in supply. Which could of course be solved by purchasing from the other but that would entail some beaurocartic hurdles and paperwork.

Thank you for the information. I will pass it along. I had not heard of a drug shortage but then I don’t go to government hospitals.

I only was prescribed morphine once a couple of years ago after an operation. They cut me off after three days. I was a bit upset as my stomach was still in pain from the incision but they said I might get addicted after 4 days. At the time it did not seem like a serious problem addiction vs. pain.

However the pain did go away and they gave me something else they said was just as strong as morphine but I have forgotten what it was.

As I get older I have less fear of death but the fear of pain remains.