Drug shortages in US
November 14, 2011
DRUG shortages in the US are at
their worst in 30 years, according to
Larry Wagenknecht, Chief
Executive of the Michigan
Pharmacists Association.
According to media reports the
US has suffered around 200 drug
shortages this year, due to a
number of contributing factors
including manufacturing problems.
The majority of the shortages
have been for generic drugs, and
include medications for cancer, ADD,
Blood Pressure and anesthetics.
“Unfortunately, it’s becoming a
weekly, sometimes daily
occurrence here,” said Spectrum
Health spokesman Bruce Rossman.
Although they are worsening, the
shortages are not a recent occurrence,
with the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services saying
that between 2005 and 2010, the
number of shortages has tripled.
Last month US President Obama
issued an Executive Order to the
FDA to “take action” over the
shortages, including new
legislation which requires
manufacturers to report upcoming
shortages and discontinuations six
months ahead of time.
Other measures include joint FDA
and Justice Department
investigations into allegations of
price gouging, as well as the
speeding up of FDA new
manufacturing facility reviews.
Whilst pharmacists have
welcomed the new measures, they
are cautious as to celebrating a
victory too soon, with one Priority
Health clinical pharmacist, Charles
Mollien telling media that “It will
take years to fix this”.
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