A survey called “Impact of Drug Shortages on U.S. Health Systems” released this Tuesday showed that a vast majority of U.S. hospitals have restricted the use of life-saving chemotherapy drugs and other critical-care medications in the past six months to cope with unprecedented shortages.
More than 80% of hospitals surveyed by the American Hospital Association reported they had to delay treatment, and nearly 70% said patients received less effective substitute drugs. Three out of four hospitals reported rationing or restricting the use of drugs in short supply.
The survey included 820 hospitals was conducted by the AHA and released on Capitol Hill as part of push for legislative action. A separate survey commissioned by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists estimated additional labor costs for hospitals to deal with the shortages at $216 million a year. Pharmacists and technicians spend about 17 hours a week managing drug shortages the report said. Most of the drugs in question are generic and not highly profitable, and are now made by only one or two companies. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Hospira Inc. are two of the bigger producers of generic drugs.
The FDA reported a record 178 drug shortages in 2010. Although the agency doesn't have figures for 2011, it said the shortages “have continued at a rapid pace.” These shortages are mainly in the older, generic drugs administered by injection or intravenously. They include chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer, antibiotics to treat infections and nutritional drugs for patients who can't eat. There are also continuing shortages of drugs used in emergency rooms and intensive-care units. More than 90% shortages are in the surgery or anesthesia drugs and emergency-care drugs, and two-thirds reported shortages of chemotherapy drugs. Almost half of the hospitals reported coping with 21 or more shortages in the past six months.
A broad coalition of health care groups, including the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, are advocating for a streamlined drug-approvals as well as an “early warning system” so providers are not caught off-guard by a lack of key drugs. The FDA has said 38 shortages were prevented in 2010 when companies voluntarily gave the agency early notification of a problem with a drug. In some cases, the advanced warning gave the FDA time to work with competing manufacturers to increase production.
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