Needed drugs in short supply while companies focus on making more profitable ones

Why is it that “new” drugs to treat “normal” conditions always seem to be available and offered to everyone. But what about the ones that may mean the difference between life and death?

Those are in seriously short supply.

The lack of “medicines to treat acutely ill patients,” especially IV fluids, is now being called “a public health crisis.”

A report from the GAO says that despite the FDA’s taking steps to prevent these shortages, the number of scarce drugs has risen by more than 300 in just seven years.

These include the heart medicine nitroglycerin and a drug used to paralyze muscles during surgery and for patients on ventilators.

So what’s going on?

A report in The New York Times says drug companies won’t talk about what’s behind shortages. But…surprise, surprise? “Narrow profit margins” and lower prices are cited as reasons by the Times.

Also, these generic drugs are being made by fewer companies, as big drug makers would much rather work on the more profitable ones.

As usual, it’s all about what makes the most money — not what saves the most lives. So they’d rather cash in on our restless legs, bald spots, or weak bladders than worry that we won’t make it through surgery alive.

Sources:
“Drug shortages continue to vex doctors” Sabrina Tavernise, February 10, 2014, The New York Times, nytimes.com