'In June I was helping to manage a community outbreak of whooping cough when the whole town ran out of clarithromycin suspension, the recommended antibiotic for the acute phase in children. None could be found, and I was reduced to asking the parents of affected children to get a pestle and mortar to grind up tablets and hide the powder in yoghurt. A few months ago we had an outbreak of scarlet fever and did the same with tablets of penicillin. The pestle and mortar is one of the oldest symbols of the pharmaceutical profession; it’s an unexpected twist in the spiralling problems of the health service that in 2024 we’re having to recommend returning to it.'

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n14/gavin-francis/short-cuts