Prescription Drug Shortages, Part II

The introduced the problem of prescription drug shortages that has been plaguing the U.S. medical community for the last 5-6 years. Unfortunately, the shortages seem to be worsening rather than improving and this is impacting health care throughout our country.

The feds are indeed well aware of these problems and are trying to address the issue. The President signed an executive order in late October to improve the FDA's ability to resolve some of these issues. 

There seems to be much debate about the causes of these shortages. Some blame the DEA for limiting the amount of certain controlled drugs (think morphine, Ritalin) that can be manufactured, some are manufacturing problems, some appear to be related to the economics of pharmaceuticals. There is much less profit in the sale of generic medications than branded products, and this may be impacting manufacturing and distribution. The drug shortage problem and it's cause is clearly complex and multi-factorial and requires more depth than is practical here. From what I gather, it is much less of a problem in Europe than the United States, so that's food for thought.

Quite recently, there are reports of tremendous price-gouging as the unscrupulous take advantage of these shortages. It's heart-breaking to think of people price-gouging over chemotherapy agents desperately needed by cancer patients, but I admit to not being surprised. This development may lead to the much-needed closing of some loopholes in the "gray market" distribution of drugs. 

Hopefully, the recent changes at the federal level will allow the FDA to move more quickly and respond to pharmaceutical manufacturing challenges in a more expedient manner.

Meanwhile, you can be proactive if you or your pet take any chronic medications. Although I wouldn't encourage stock-piling large amounts, but it may be prudent to keep a bit more on hand than usual to allow some flexibility should the medication you need become unavailable. Also, purchasing somewhat larger quantities of medications is often more economical. Just make sure the medication isn't going to be expire before it is all used.

You can look at the FDA and pharmacy sites as well if there are particular medications you wish to monitor. The more uncommon the medical problem, often the fewer medications there are available to treat it. I can find plenty of options when heartworm preventives such as Sentinel & Interceptor go on backorder, but for dogs with Diabetes, our insulin options have become very limited. There are no formulations of insulin made & licensed for dogs currently available in the U.S.. We must make do with human insulin that doesn't seem to work nearly as well as the veterinary product did in past years. I'm sure you hear the frustration ringing through.

If you'd like to have a spirited conversation, bring this up with your health care provider the next time you see them. They may also have some advice regarding your personal medication history that may prove very helpful. When it comes to the availability of prescription medications, these are truly uncertain times.