Drug Shortages Are at an All-Time Record High

Many transplant and cancer patients now pay over two thousand dollars for a month's supply of drugs. The big pharmaceutical companies claim that these drugs are so expensive because of the cost of the research that goes into making them. But at the same time they spent huge amounts of money paying their executives huge salaries and bonuses as well as spending billions a year on advertising.

There have also been a large quantity of drugs recalled from the market because of poor quality and because they have been shown to be downright dangerous. At least this is keeping the lawyers happy. In the United Kingdom, there have been allegations that drug companies have been re-packaging expensive drugs used to treat deadly diseases and reselling them to make even more profits.

And through it all is the thread that almost all of the drugs that the companies make are designed to be either of long term use or to be taken for the rest of your life. The research isn't towards a cure, but rather to keep you alive so you can take the drugs. For example, in the past you simply chewed a few Tums if you had heartburn, but now it's called acid reflux disease and you have to take a pill every day if you have too much acid.

Look at antibiotics. They were a godsend when they were first discovered because they cured infections. Now many of the older antibiotics are no longer effective because patients don't finish all of the medication, allowing some of the surviving bacteria that are exposed to the drugs to develop a resistance. Plus, the pharmaceutical companies are no longer researching new antibiotics because people don't take them long enough and therefore they can't make enough money on them.

Now, according to CNN:

"The number of drug shortages is at a record high, and the Food and Drug Administration is warning that they are getting even worse."

Besides the large recalls of drugs that have happened lately, there is also a shortage of raw materials on some drugs and the drug companies are discontinuing older drugs that have expired patents in favor of new, more expensive ones.

What complicates the problem is that the drug companies aren't required to report shortages to the FDA. They do it voluntarily so we really don't know the extent of the problem. And many of the drugs that are in short supply are the ones that are injectable and used in serious cases, during operations, and in the emergency room.

And the numbers also don't include shortages of products made from tissue or blood as well as vaccines that are in short supply.

The FDA says that if the shortages and recalls continue we may have to import drugs from other countries. Could China be among those? I hope not.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/10/news/economy/drug_shortages_fda/index.htm?hpt=he_c2