We wrote Thursday about the imaginary Medicare cost scare circulating on the Internet. Today, we have a few words about the very real shortage of prescription drugs.
Americans have come to take a lot of things for granted, among them going to the pharmacy and picking up a prescription, usually within a few minutes of the time a doctor calls it in, or you hand the pharmacist the order form.
Things have changed, and health-care officials are now issuing an alert about shortages of key drugs, including vital ingredients in chemotherapy, and the drug millions of Americans depend on to keep their attention deficit disorder from ruining their lives.
Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported shortages of 178 drugs, nearly triple the number just five years earlier. As of the end of last week, the FDA had been alerted to shortages of more than 230 drugs — and the list is growing.
FDA officials seem at a loss to explain the shortages, but there are, of course, logical reasons. The most obvious is that there aren’t enough of the drugs to go around.
Less obvious to consumers, but real nonetheless, is the increasing lack of availability of generic versions of a wide range of commonly used medicines.
Where once there were dozens of small companies competing in the generic market, there are now only about a half-dozen, most of whom rely on Chinese manufacturers to supply basic ingredients.
The Chinese connection may be especially troubling. Not only are supplies being cut short, the stuff that does come to America has little or no oversight with regard to purity and effectiveness. Health-care officials are concerned that, with the race to eliminate the shortages, contaminated drugs may slip through.
The Obama administration has acknowledged the problem, and earlier this week the president issued an executive order directing the FDA to move swiftly to reduce prescription drug shortages.
It’s difficult to see how the FDA can fully execute such an order, however, when its own experts seem unable to identify the reasons why shortages exist.
Among the order’s shortcomings is that it fails to require manufacturers to tell government or the health-care delivery system when a shortage is about to happen. As it is now, the people who really need to know don’t find out until they prescribe a drug, and it’s not available.
Somewhere earlier in the process, someone knew that drug would be unavailable — a fact health-care providers need to know, so they can plan adequate alternative treatment strategies.
Drug manufacturers are in this to make money, and unfortunately, too many of their decision makers simply don’t care what happens downstream from the manufacturing process. If ever a situation demanded government oversight, this is it.
We hear, understand and largely sympathize with demands for smaller government and fewer regulations, but we wonder how long that sentiment will last after a diagnosis of a cancer that requires treatment with drugs that aren’t available.
We all witnessed the outcome of a lack of effective oversight when the BP oil rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, taking with it the lives of workers, and the livelihoods of thousands living along the Gulf Coast. If government agencies had been making BP follow the rules, that disaster might not have happened.
The Obama administrations needs to take the next step to ensure an adequate supply of prescription medicines that so many American depend on, by at least requiring drug companies to give a heads up when a shortage is coming.
Разумнейшую. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
No comments:
Post a Comment