Russian healthcare regulator Roszdravnadzor has dismissed online reports alleging a nationwide shortage of medications used to treat gout. The claims circulated on the internet, suggesting that supplies of two primary gout treatments, Colchicine and Colchicum, were nearly exhausted across Russian cities.
Official figures from Roszdravnadzor show that more than 127,000 packs of the two medicines were released into Russian civil circulation between the start of 2026 and mid-September. The oversight agency confirmed that ample stock remains in reserve, with more than 24,000 packs of Colchicum-Dispert and about 8,000 packs of Colchicine-Lirca currently on hand.
The federal watchdog also stated that its official telephone hotline had received no complaints from patients regarding missing supplies of either treatment. The agency rejected suggestions of a broad deficit, describing the circulating claims as exaggerated and taken out of context.
Roszdravnadzor, officially known as the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare, operates under the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. The agency oversees medical practice standards, monitors drug quality, and tracks the availability of pharmaceuticals across regional retail networks and state hospitals.
Pharmacy Chain Discrepancies
Concerns over supplies began when the Russian daily business newspaper Kommersant published an article describing retail shortages. The publication cited accounts from individual patients, information from the Rigla-Zdravcity pharmacy group, and reports from an unnamed major retail pharmacy chain.
According to the figures cited by Kommersant, one major pharmacy network had fewer than 100 packs of Colchicine left in stock across its stores, with Colchicum remaining available in only a few cities. At another pharmacy chain, Colchicum was reportedly present in approximately 6 percent of branch locations.
Other market participants did not confirm that any drug shortage existed. Alexander Tyukin, the head of the e-commerce department at Zdravcity.ru, suggested to Kommersant that a temporary disappearance of the drugs from retail shelves could be caused by changes in logistics models rather than a genuine product deficit.
Kommersant is a leading national business daily in Russia, known for reporting on economic policy, corporate developments and healthcare market trends. The Russian retail pharmacy sector includes both nationwide chains and independent regional retailers, which often manage separate supply agreements with wholesale distributors.
Targeted Procurement Rules
Colchicine and Colchicum are not included on Russia's official List of Vital and Essential Drugs, a register established under the federal law On the Circulation of Medicines. Medications on the vital list are subject to mandatory state price caps and centralized supply requirements.
Instead, the gout treatments are commercial medicines provided through targeted state support. This mechanism means that Russian authorities and medical institutions do not buy large stockpiles in advance.
Supplies are acquired through targeted purchases approved by medical commissions for specific patients, or bought in small batches by hospitals through direct contracts negotiated between medical facilities and distributors.
Gout Treatment and Media Coverage
Gout is a painful metabolic condition and form of inflammatory arthritis caused by high levels of uric acid in the bloodstream, leading to the formation of needle-like urate crystals in joint tissues. The condition commonly strikes the big toe, ankles and knees, producing sudden attacks of intense pain, swelling and redness. Colchicine, a medication derived from the autumn crocus plant Colchicum autumnale, has been utilized for decades as an anti-inflammatory agent to relieve pain and shorten acute flares.
The Russian fact-checking service Lapsha Media, which assisted in reviewing the claims, noted that while isolated pharmacy networks and individual buyers registered local difficulties, the claims of an overall shortage were exaggerated. Media outlets published the initial claims alongside the official refutation from Roszdravnadzor, preventing the unverified reports from spreading widely.
