America - The Land Where You Can`t Even Die In Peace

The video below  is 1 year and a half old. Shortages in emergency medication and cancer treatment had crippled hospitals all over the country. Things were quickly getting out hand. Patients were told to go home, as there was no medication for them… children with leukemia were in continuous pain due to lack of painkillers such as morphine… and dying elders were forced to leave this world suffering.

A year and a half later, things have changed. To the worse. According to PharmaTimes, in February, 2012, there were 201 drugs listed on the American Society of Health System Pharmacists [ASHP] shortage list. Since then, more drugs keep vanishing every month.

This has been going on ever since 2006. Back then, there were 76 drugs on the shortage list… but no one thought an intervention was necessary… until the number raised to 276 in 2011 (PharmaTimes).

That`s when the president signed an Executive Order to force the FDA take action.

The President’s order directs FDA to broaden reporting of potential shortages of certain prescription drugs and to further expedite regulatory reviews that can help prevent or respond to shortages.

Under the President’s order, FDA will also work with to the Department of Justice, which will examine whether potential shortages have led to illegal price gouging or stockpiling of life-saving medications.”

This is FDA`s response, on their website:

“FDA takes great efforts, within its legal authority, to address and prevent drug shortages, which can occur for many reasons, including manufacturing and quality problems, delays, and discontinuations. The agency works closely with manufacturers of drugs in short supply to communicate the issue and to help restore availability. FDA also works with other firms who manufacture the same drug, asking them to increase production, if possible, in order to prevent or reduce the impact of a shortage.

Manufacturers are not required to report information, such as reasons for shortages or the expected duration of shortages. However, many companies voluntarily provide shortage information that FDA posts on its website. FDA encourages and appreciates all reporting of shortages by manufacturers.”

As usual, the president “fixes” the problem with an order… and the culprits wave their “superhuman” efforts under our noses, to show us they`re “on it”. However, here we are, a year later, facing a deeper medication crisis than ever before.

Let`s take the factors one by one and see where we`re standing today:

  #1. Current Shortages

Recent events have brought the shortage to a historical level. First, there was the deadly meningitis that infected more than 480 people and killed 33 (rt.com). This epidemic brought Ameridose to permanent termination. Then, hurricane Sandy made thousands of victims in need of medication, which increased the shortage to a record level.

According to RussiaToday, the situation is so desperate that a foreign company called Canadiandrugsaver is providing drugs to relief agencies now.

According to The Lancet, the shortages led to delays in surgery and cancer treatments, left patients in pain, and forced hospitals to prescribe less effective treatment. Also, about 15 deaths in 15 months were caused by medication shortages. However, the numbers are likely to be much, much  bigger, because many cases are not reported.

A direct effect of any shortage is rising prices. And not by 4-5%. Try more like a 650% increase! Sounds like I invented this number, right? Well, here`s what I found on whitehouse.gov:

“(…)… a leukemia drug whose typical contract price is about $12 per vial was being sold at $990 per vial – 80 times higher.”

“(…) the typical gray market vendor marks up prices by an averaged 650 percent.”

“(…) a drug used to treat high blood pressure that was normally priced at $25.90 was being sold at $1,200 due to a drug shortage.”

$1,200 to keep my blood pressure under control?! Soon enough, Americans will have to sell their kidneys just to stay alive! Which brings me to the next factor, perhaps the worst one of all:

#3. Dark Predictions

Sandra Kweder, deputy director of the FDA`s Office of New Drugs was interviewed by The Lancet and here`s what she said:

“We don’t have any expectation the issue will be resolved soon (…) It will be several years before companies building new plants get them up and running.”

And since the shortage has grown four times bigger in just 4 years… we can expect to find hospitals with toy pills in their cabinets, as placebo. Or pharmacies that turn to lego stores overnight, just to fill the empty shelves with something…

And as hard as it may be to believe it, this is the best variant of the two possible ones. The other potential future of the American medication market could lie in unsanitary drug plants in China and India… with almost no manufacturing standards and no inspections.

Therefore, behold your future: behind door #1, you`ve got the “wait for it to go away” treatment, while behind door #2 lies the “make it worse with Chinese meds” program. What do you choose?

 By Alec Deacon