Nationwide drug shortages
The prolonged and growing number of drug shortages affecting patients in the United States is not just alarming, it is endangering the lives of many people in need of those drugs. The Associated Press reported that there have been 15 deaths in the past 15 months related to the shortages. Wedgewood Pharmacy has been keeping track of drug shortages and keeping doctors and patients up-to-date with news and alerts as well as alternatives available during the backorders.
So far, 210 drugs have been added to the growing list of backordered medications, with 55 of them still on the list from before this year. As a result, a hearing was held by the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in which hospital officials and physicians discussed the issue with members of Congress. Howard Koh of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made a statement during the hearing in which he outlined the situation.
Drug Shortage News
Nationwide shortage of drugs, FDA and government intervention
Witnesses at the congressional subcommittee meeting discussed the shortages, including many cancer drugs, and provided statistics describing the healthcare crisis. After the meeting, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) wrote to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, requesting a comprehensive briefing on the FDA hearing and subsequent recommendations to continue to address the drug crisis.
- Funding bill may affect drug shortages, Reuters 1-31-12
- Obama to order FDA to help reduce drug shortages, Associated Press 10-31-11
- FDA: Shortage Ends For A Leukemia Drug, But Others Remain, Fox Business 10-20-11
- "Gray Market" companies exploit, profit from short supply of life-saving drugs, CBS News 10-14-11
- Drug shortages even worse this year, Fox 55 (Wausau) 10-3-11
- FDA: 200 drugs in short supply, ABC 7 News (Chicago) 9-30-11
- Drug Shortages Even Worse This Year: FDA, U.S. World and News Report 9-30-11
- Historic Drug Shortages Across the U.S. Continue to Get Worse, The Atlantic 9-30-11
- Federal Government Scrutinizes Drug Shortages With ASA Backing, ASC Review 9-28-11
- US generics group's drug shortage plea, PM Live 9-28-11
- Strong Hospital responds to Drug shortage, WHAM-TV, (New York) 9-26-11
- Hospital Drug Shortages Present Deadly, Costly Consequences, International Business Times 9-25-11
- US drug shortage reaching crisis point, PressTV.com 9-25-11
- Drug shortage stirs fears, Philly.com 9-24-11
- Drug Shortages on the Rise, MedpageToday.com, Washington Watch, (second item) 9-24-11
- US Drug Shortage Could Threaten US Health System, Akron News Now 9-23-11
- Hospitals Face Price-Gouging Amid Severe Prescription Drug Shortage, CNS News 9-23-11
- Drug shortage means cost, treatment problems for hospitals, The News Gazette (Illinois) 9-23-11>
- Drug shortage could be deadly, CBS Minnesota 9-23-11
- AP investigation: Drug shortage endangering lives, KARE (Minneapolis) 9-23-11
- Hospital care suffering due to drug shortage 'crisis', FierceHealthcare.com 9-23-11
- AP IMPACTL Hospital drug shortages deadly, costly, CBS News Healthwatch 9-23-11
- U.S. Drug Shortage Could Threaten U.S. Health System, ABC News/Health 9-23-11
- Drug shortage called an emergency, MyFox.com (New York) 9-23-11
Impact of drug shortages on patients, doctors and hospitals
From the hundreds of derailed clinical trials, to the thousands of patients who are going without their needed medications and hospitals being forced to pay higher prices, the impact of the drug shortage is being felt far and wide throughout the country. This is why enhanced focus to this critical publich health issue is taking on a central focus for government administrators. Even experts and doctors are weighing in on the root causes of the drug shortages.
- How drug shortages could affect the future of cancer care, emaxHealth 2-2-12
- AMA: Drug Shortage Disruptive but Limited to a Few Key Areas, Medscape Medical News 11-14-11
- Summary in Conjunction with ABC News on the Economic Perspective from NEJM, MedPageToday 11-2-11
- Drug shortage slows clinical trials, Nature News 10-3-11
- Shortages Lead Doctors to Ration Critical Drugs, North Country Public Radio 10-3-11
- FDA: Cancer drug shortage in U.S., PressConnects (Video) 9-30-11
- FDA Cancer drug shortage in U.S., AZCentral (Video) 9-30-11
- Shortage of drugs felt by Idaho hospital, NWCN 9-29-11
- Latest on Prescription Drug Shortage, MyFoxPhilly.com (Philadelphia) 9-29-11
- National drug shortage delaying some treatments at St. John, TDN.com 9-28-11
- Drug Shortage Prompts Search For Alternative Treatments, CBS4 (Denver) 9-27-11
- Drug shortage causing major concern for hospitals, WYMT-TV (Kentucky) 9-26-11
- State medical society declares state of emergency drug shortage, Fairport-East Rochester Post (New York) 9-25-11
- Drug Shortage Endangering Patients, ABC KEZI 9 News 9-23-11
- Drug shortages threaten cancer research, Wall Street Journal 9-23-11
- Local doctors prepared for drug shortage, WZVN-HD (Florida) 9-23-11
- Drug shortage endangering patients, KEZI-TV (Oregon) 9-23-11
- Congress hears drug shortage concerns, Click2 (Houston) 9-23-11
- Medical Society of the State of New York declares drug shortage state of emergency 9-23-11
Related news on manufactured drug backorders
While Congress considers the drug shortages bill that would amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to improve response time when shortages occur, the compounding industry is letting patients and doctors know that they are available to help. On September 27, The Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA) issued a press release informing the public of how compounding pharmacies offer solutions to the growing problem of drug shortages.
- Drug shortage results in man losing son, ABC Action News, (Florida) (Video) 9-23-11
A Congressional hearing took place addressing the drug shortage situation, where lives are at stake. The Bleomycin drug shortage affected the family in this news story video.
According to Captain Valerie Jensen of the FDA, they've been tracking drug shortages and for the past five years, there has been a very large increase in shortages, especially from 2010 to 2011. Congress is proposing changes that would require drug manufacturers to notify the FDA when they anticipate a shortage or stoppage.
- IACP Provides Meaningful Solution With Compounding Pharmacy Assessment Questionnaire , Globe Newswire 10-5-11
- FDA blames quality issues for most shortages; others blame FDA, Fierce Pharma 10-3-11
- Donors blame drug shortages on theft, graft, The Nation 9-30-11
- Pfizer spends $3.6 million lobbying in 2Q, Bloomberg Businessweek 9-29-11
- Strides Arcolab gets US FDA nod for cancer treatment drugs, Moneycontrol.com 9-30-11
- Our view: Drug shortage an outrage, Standard Examiner 9-29-11
- Three women affected by ovarian cancer go online to spread the word, Daily Breeze (Los Angeles) 9-29-11
- Amid Drug Shortages, Compounding Pharmacies Offer Solutions For Growing Problem, MarketWatch 9-27-11
- Industry Writes Rx for Drug Shortage, The Advisory Board Company 9-28-11
- Drug shortages a growing problem, Kansas City Star 9-27-11
- Critical condition, ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer (Video) 9-23-11
- Lawmakers meet to discuss critical drug shortages that are hurting patients, ABC Action News (Florida) 9-23-11
- No shortage of blame, US Pharmacist 9-20-11
About Wedgewood Pharmacy
Wedgewood Pharmacy is the trusted compounding pharmacy partner for more than 25,000 prescribers. When a compounded medication is needed as part of a patient therapy, turn to Wedgewood Pharmacy for more choices, consistency, quality, value and world-class customer care.
When you choose one of the compounded preparations in our formulary, the preparations you receive are prepared in a clinically sophisticated environment by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians devoted exclusively to compounding. Compounding preparations are checked at least five different times by qualified pharmacists to ensure their accuracy.
Since 1981, Wedgewood Pharmacy has invested tens of millions of dollars in facilities, equipment and expertise. As one of the largest compounding pharmacies in the United States, we dispense custom-compounded preparations for patients and employ state-of-the-art technologies in every aspect of our operations.
To find out if an drug you need is in our formulary, enter it into the search box at the top of this page. If you don't see the result for which you were looking, contact Wedgewood Pharmacy at 800.331.8272 to speak with a customer care specialist.
Compounding pharmacies help during drug shortages
Are you looking to better understand what compounding is and how it helps patients when commercially-available medications become unavailable? Download your free booklet, Talk to your doctor about compounded medications, right here on WedgewoodRx.com.