Three antiarrhythmic medicines out of stock says the DHSC

Three antiarrhythmic drugs will be out of stock at different stages over the coming months, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced in two medicine supply notifications.

In two separate tier 2 – medium impact – notifications, both issued 22 June, the DHSC stated that propafenone (arythmol) 150mg tablets, disopyramide (rythmodan) 100mg capsules and disopyramide (rythmodan retard) 250mg modified-release tablets will be affected by supply issues between now and early April 2027.

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The first notification stated that propafenone (arythmol) 150mg tablets will be out of stock until at least late July 2026.

For this shortage, the DHSC said that propafenone (arythmol) 300mg tablets remain available and can support a limited increase in demand, but they should not be halved to deliver a 150mg dose.

The propafenone medicine supply notification also states that flecainide 50mg and 100mg tablets remain available and can support increased demand, and alternative medicines for ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias remain available as well.

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In the second notification, the DHSC said disopyramide (rythmodan) 100mg capsules will be in out of stock from late June 2026 until early April 2027, and disopyramide (rythmodan retard) 250mg modified release tablets will be out of stock from late June until late July 2026.

For this shortage, it was stated that disopyramide (rythmodan retard) 250mg modified release tablets would be able to support a partial uplift in demand once available in late July 2026.

Meanwhile, parallel imports of disopyramide 250mg modified release tablets and disopyramide 100mg capsules are in limited supply and cannot support an uplift in demand.

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Unlicensed imports of disopyramide 100mg capsules and disopyramide 250mg modified release tablets can be sourced at Chemys, Clinigen, Mawdsleys, and Target Healthcare – this list is not exhaustive, and lead times vary.

Unlicensed specials of disopyramide 25mg/5ml and 50mg/5ml oral suspension are available at Eastbone Specials, Nova Laboratories, PCCA, Rokshaw Limited, and SyriMed – this list is not exhaustive, and lead times vary.

All three drugs are class 1c antiarrhythmic medications used to prevent irregular heartbeats, such as atrial fibrillation, from occurring again in patients who do not have structural heart disease.

A copy of both medicine supply notifications, including supporting information, has been sent to all pharmacy NHS email addresses.

DHSC and NHS England have an online medicines supply tool, which provides up-to-date information about medicine supply issues. The contents of these medicine supply notifications can be viewed on the tool.