A medicine used by some people with multiple sclerosis to manage pain is out of stock with wholesalers across the United Kingdom and is not expected to be available again until December, according to Northern Ireland's Department of Health. Nabilone's shortage has affected both licensed strengths, with the one-milligram capsules disrupted since July and the smaller 0.25-milligram strength becoming unavailable more recently. The department has declined to explain the cause, describing the information as commercially sensitive.

One patient's account of life without the drug

The shortage was brought into focus by the case of Jill Kenning, from Coleraine, who has lived with multiple sclerosis for 18 years and says nabilone made ordinary life possible for 17 of them. Since running out last week, she says she has spent most of her time in bed in severe pain, and that alternative medicines prescribed since have not worked for her, leaving her needing hospital stays of several nights. She argues that more should have been done to warn patients that supplies were running out, so they could plan, and says she is campaigning for other patients on the drug as well as herself.

A wider pattern of medicine shortages

Her experience sits within a broader strain on supplies. A tracker published by the industry reference guide MIMS puts the number of drugs in short supply in the UK at 157 this week, up from 107 in January. An NHS medicine supply notification issued in July had already recorded nabilone one-milligram capsules as out of stock, with the smaller strength and unlicensed imports suggested as possible routes for clinicians to consider where appropriate. Health officials say guidance has been issued to professionals on alternatives, and advise anyone unable to obtain a prescribed medicine, or concerned about an alternative, to speak to their specialist team.

For patients whose condition has been stable on one treatment for years, however, switching is rarely straightforward, and each change carries its own effects and uncertainties. Until supplies return, the central questions remain unanswered for those affected: why the shortage happened, and whether the December date for resupply can be relied upon.

Sources: BBC News (via World Right Now) and NHS North East London ICB, Medicine Supply Notification MSN/2026/032.