Growing Number of Hospitals Suffering Drug Shortages — But Why?
- Posted on March 5, 2012 at 1:37pm by
Erica Ritz
- Print »
- Email »
A growing number of hospitals and patients are feeling the effects of severe drug shortages. According to Forbes:
In 2011, there were a record-high 267 new prescription drug shortages. This is 56 more than in 2010 and more than four times greater than the number of medication shortages in 2004, when just 58 drug shortages were reported.
The worsening drug shortage problem impacts patient care, especially in hospitals, as chemotherapy, surgery and care for patients with pain and infections are disrupted as a result of a lack of critical medicines. The shortages have also delayed clinical trials and have led to extraordinary price extortion, causing many hospitals to have to pay extremely large markups for limited drugs.
The director of Oconee Medical Center’s pharmacy in South Carolina, Bill Stevenson, said, “It’s a crisis. It’s a national crisis. It‘s as bad as I’ve seen in my 35 years of practice here.” As of January, there were 4,242 medications on national backorder from the wholesaler where his pharmacy purchases its medication.
“It just delays patient care by not having the drugs you need to do the job,” he reiterated.
In the end, hospitals must pass some of these increased costs on to patients, or they will go out of business altogether. ”We’re paying anywhere between a 400 and 1,100 percent price increase over what we were…” Stevenson said.
But the question remains, why the shortage?
The FDA says that “the shortages are primarily a result of manufacturing deficiencies…companies that end production of drugs that have small profit margins, consolidation in the generic drug industry, and not enough supplies of some ingredients.”
However, a 2010 report from the Manhattan Institute puts things in a different light. It notes, “The FDA’s mission is not only to bring safe and effective drugs to market but…to help ‘speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable.’” Unfortunately, according to the report:
…patient access to newer medicines [has become] limited by a complex, expensive, and ever-lengthening drug-development process. Well-known studies from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development have found that the period from the inception of research into the formulation of a molecule until approval by the Food and Drug Administration for marketing is currently about twelve years, two-thirds of which is consumed by clinical trials (whose scope is dictated by the FDA) as well as the FDA’s own approval process…
The Manhattan Institute’s study concludes by recommending, among other things, that the FDA streamline its approval process to alleviate the burden on manufacturers and patients, thereby also allowing them to utilize their resources on increased production.
Interested in checking out the status of your medications? Check out the FDA’s “Drug Shortage” website here.
Comments (8)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 692 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 496 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 375 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 347 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 331 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 316 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 331 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 239 Comments- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 316 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
scallor
Posted on March 5, 2012 at 11:32pmI can give one good reason. Someone I know works for Ben Hur Pharmaceutical and they make a very important cancer drug. The FDA came in and said that they were doing something wrong when they were making a batch of it. So they fixed what they said was wrong and started again. They came in and said it was bad then also and said something else was wrong. They kept doing this so many times that there was a shortage and people were sending pictures of their loved ones that died blaming the company. My friend was worried the company was going to go bankrupt they were screwing them around so much. Sounds to me like another set up. They purposely create shortages by screwing with the manufacturers and then claim the greedy drug companies are screwing everyone. Blows my mind that people think when they completely take over health care that anything good could be coming. This has to be the most corrupt administration in our history.
Report Post »pamela kay
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 6:00pmSCALLOR; I agree. Have you read page 1000 section 2521 of the HC bill? It is hard to find and has supposedly been hidden since all of the controversy about it. I had trouble getting my anti rejection meds lately. I was given a generic version and am concerned how long I will be able to get that.
Report Post »flatbroke
Posted on March 5, 2012 at 6:27pmWelcome to Obummercare! these medicines are some of the most commonly used medicines. God help us all, especally if there is a disaster!
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on March 5, 2012 at 6:55pmObama, along with his racially-motivated co-horts, relish the idea that the aging White baby-boomers are going to need those meds and will see to it that there WILL be shortages.
Report Post »I’m predicting you will see certain groups getting drugs (say..medicaid recipiants), while others (people not on medicaid) will, for some contrived reason, not have those drugs available.
I see that Coumadin (blood thinner) and Keppra (seizure) are not on the shortage list. Good for me, at least for now. I won’t hold my breath (oops!…sorry for the pun, I use inhalers) that at some point drugs associated with older citizens will curiously be on the shortage list.
You see, even if there are no death panels, there are other ways to get the job done. Oh….these communists are cleaver!
pamela kay
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 6:02pmFLATBROKE; Try pg.1000 section 2521 in the HC bill.
Report Post »TexBork
Posted on March 5, 2012 at 5:10pmWait until the government medicine finally finishes it’s revolutionary take over. Then, these will be the glory days we’ll remember. We‘ll all be talking about the good ol’ days before the door to door euthanasia vans were a common thing to see on your block every now and then…
Report Post »flatbroke
Posted on March 5, 2012 at 6:32pm@ texbork, the powers that be will not even have to bother with euthanasia, people will just not be able to get some of these life saving medicines, and die while waiting to recieve them. Isnt Obummercare sooo wonderful! thanks to the dumbacraps, and the dumbarses for voting him in!
Report Post »pamela kay
Posted on March 5, 2012 at 4:54pmI experienced this with an anti rejection med that I was on. I have been on it four 4yrs and was never given an explaination but was given a generic version and am still having trouble when ordering my meds.
Report Post »