Several injectible-only cancer drugs are in such short supply that patients are being told they have to wait to begin treatment, while hospitals are reporting the need to ration drugs in the face of the shortage, and other health care providers are getting backed into corners to purchase more expensive drugs (as opposed to generics) by wholesalers who have seized on supplies of certain scarce drugs and sold them at drastically marked-up prices.
The New York Times is reporting that as many as 180 "medically necessary" drugs (a figure that includes over a dozen cancer drugs) are currently in short supply. Cancer drugs listed to be in increasingly short supply include:
Bleomycin
Cisplatin
Cytarabine
Daunorubicin
Dexamethasone
Doxorubicin
Etoposide
Leucovorin
Mustargen
Paclitaxel
Vincristine
The question is why they're in short supply, and since drug manufacturers aren't required to tell the FDA why, answers remain as elusive as the drug s themselves. The Times offered up potential contributing factors:
-- Plant shutdowns from contamination problems
-- Problems securing pharmaceutical ingredients from suppliers
-- A lack of incentive for manufacturers to invest in the production facilities to for low-cost generics
Addressing any one of these issues is not something that will be resolved quickly—especially in light of the fact that in 2010 the FDA reported drug shortages to be at an all-time high and that 2011 was shaping up to be the same.
Sources
The New York Times, The Shortage of Vital Drugs.
US News and World Report, Cancer Drug Shortages Getting Worse, FDA Says.
FDA page on drug shortages
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