{
  "id": 12795876,
  "title": "Menopause patients left without treatment: what is happening in Spain?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/menopause-patients-left-without-treatment-what-is-happening-in-spain",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-08T05:04:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euronews",
    "slug": "euronews",
    "url": "https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/08/menopause-patients-left-without-treatment-what-is-happening-in-spain"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Numerous Spanish women have faced significant difficulties obtaining hormone treatments for menopausal relief over the past few months. The problem initially began with the limited availability of Lenzetto, a transdermal estradiol spray. As demand rose, supply issues ensued for other estradiol products like Evopad, Estradot and Bijuva. This led to a chain reaction, leaving patients scrambling to find alternative medications across various pharmacies.\n\nHealth authorities in Spain are striving to resolve the crisis, with the Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, predicting an improvement from November onwards. However, the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (Aemps) remains skeptical about the full restoration of normal supply levels in 2027 due to global manufacturing constraints. Gedeon Richter, the manufacturer of Lenzetto, confirmed to Euronews that the medicine should become available again in pharmacies by late November, but warned that it may not be able to meet the entire global demand later in 2027 due to ongoing supply challenges.\n\nThe issue extends beyond Spain's borders, with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) acknowledging the supply problems related to Lenzetto and considering potential EU-wide measures to mitigate the impact. European authorities are currently discussing the matter in meetings of the group responsible for addressing medicine supply issues.\n\nThe crisis originated from a surge in demand for Lenzetto that outpaced the manufacturer's production capacity. Gedeon Richter attributed the shortage to an inability to meet the rapid increase in demand for the medication, as well as the unavailability of the delivery device used to administer it. The company emphasized that the shortage is not linked to any quality or safety concerns with the product.\n\nIn an attempt to boost supply, Gedeon Richter is optimizing its current capacity, developing new manufacturing alternatives, and establishing a new plant and production line. The Spanish government raised the price of Lenzetto in hopes of attracting more suppliers, but this measure did not prove effective. The Health Ministry has also explored funding alternative treatments as a way to expand options for patients, but these efforts have not yielded the desired results so far.",
  "summary": "The shortage of Lenzetto has had a domino effect on other menopause hormone treatments in Spain and other European countries. Spain's Health Ministry expects supplies to improve in November, but Spain's Medicines watchdog warns the timetable is still unclear.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}