Federal officials, pharm companies and doctors are scrambling to find medications to fill a serious shortage, including drugs that treat bacterial infections and several forms of cancer. Dr. Michael Link, Director of the American Society of Clinical Oncology told the New York Times, “These shortages are just killing us... these drugs save lives, and it’s unconscionable that medicines that cost a couple of bucks a vial are unavailable.” This year a record number of drugs are unavailable for a range of diseases, including childhood leukemia, bacterial infections, and others; 180 different medicines in all.
For many of these medications scarcity has drive up prices as much as twenty-fold, and created life-threatening lulls in treatment for many cancer patients. In addition, those drugs that are available are falling into short supply as people fall back on other brands or types that might have similar effects.
The worst part about these shortages is that few people understand why we actually have them. Being the most wealthy nation in the world, and having the most large, active, and well-funded healthcare network in the world, these kinds of catastrophic drug shortages should logistically not be one of the issues that our country faces. Yet, here we are. One of the more prevalent reasons are problems with manufacturing the drugs, in which microbial violations of a compound have occurred in production or certain manufacturers simply can not keep up with capacity (which to means seems like an inherent fault of the company).
Another one of the reasons is that when these manufacturers experience delays, there is no advanced warning to organizations and agencies like the FDA. In fact, a recent bipartisan bill by congressional lawmakers would give the FDA powers to force pharmaceutical companies to provide advanced notice in the case of supply shortages or production disruptions. Those companies are loathe to report their own shortcomings, it would allow government agencies like the FDA to avoid massive nationwide shortages like the ones we're seeing this summer.
Another proposal by the Obama administration is to add an extra component to the CDC's medical stockpile. The Center for Disease Control already stockpiles antibiotics, antidotes, and other drugs for unforeseen events like natural disasters or terrorist attacks. The Obama administration would add cancer drugs to the list in their dry ingredient form, which could then be shipping out to [pharmacists who could then mix an injectable dose. Yet another possible solution by a group of leading oncologists is in forming a non-profit that will routinely ship medicines that are in shortage or are not available to the United States from abroad.
There is a serious lack of incentive for manufacturers of older medicines to produce higher quantities. Generally older medicines prices are very low, but when they're in short supply their prices sore and there's little incentive for manufacturers to produce the older medicines in greater quantity only to see the price plunge again. Not only that, but many of the manufacturers are bound by government regulations and other constraints that make further production difficult. Ultimately, there must be movement by the government to change the incentive for drug companies, whether it means a fixed price scale, or an effort to incentivize production growth. As our country continues to get older, and the elderly create an ever growing need for certain drugs, there will need to be some change in the supply chain to make sure that these life-saving drugs are always available.