Imagine yourself in the hospital and the hospital being out of the critical chemotherapy drugs you need. That sounds like something more out of the Soviet Union than the United States, but almost every hospital in the US is facing prescription drug shortages. Prescription drug shortages are leading to drug rationing, treatment delays and, sometimes, no treatment possibility, reports Stat News.
One new survey of 1,100 hospital pharmacists from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists found that one in three hospitals are rationing drugs or not providing critical treatments. Virtually all hospital pharmacists report inadequate supplies of some prescription drugs. Treatments for syphilis, different cancers, severe pain are hard to come by. More than eight in ten hospital pharmacists say hospitals are rationing care or switching to alternative treatments.
Pharmacists are forced to buy different drugs or different concentrations of drugs or getting their drugs from pharmacies that manufacture the drugs through compounding. The consequences are not only dire for some patients but causing almost three in four pharmacists to pay more for drugs. And, the situation is getting worse.
What’s responsible for these shortages? Everything from climate issues and increased demand, to quality issues.
The Food and Drug Administration’s response is unsatisfying. As of now, the FDA is not acting to ensure patients get treatments that are safe. It is permitting Intas Pharmaceuticals to continue to import chemotherapy treatments notwithstanding its finding of “a cascade of [quality] failures” where its drugs are manufactured. The FDA reported that an Intas analyst poured “acetic acid in a trash bin containing analytical balance strips,” in order to destroy records.
Quality issues at plants in China and India are particularly concerning. Many generic drugs and chemotherapy ingredients are produced in these plants. What’s pretty clear is that some chemotherapy treatments are of questionable quality.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- FDA is confiscating some imported life-saving prescription drugs
- FDA finalizes rule for over-the-counter hearing aids
- FDA hides data on medical device malfunctions and injuries
- FDA is hiding information on supplements that are dangerous
- FDA hides information on deadly heart pump and threatens patient safety
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