Patients Struggle With Record Drug Shortage
BOSTON (CBS) - When facing a potentially deadly disease the last thing a patient needs to worry about is access to life-saving medication.
But this is the reality for thousands of patients as doctors and hospitals struggle with the worst drug shortage this country has ever seen.
Alison Curran is one of those patients. The Hadley mom has leukemia. She just finished months of chemotherapy treatment, but it did not go as planned. Curran says she was in shock and sick to her stomach when she realized the drug she needed to survive was on the growing list of drugs now in short supply.
WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben reports
Curran's oncologist Dr. Eyal Attar scrambled to find a substitute and had to work with what was available, not necessarily what was most effective. He says they got lucky in this instance but "I'm worried about what could happen in the future if these drug shortages become more common and more widespread."
Its not just cancer drugs on the list. Heart medications, Diabetes treatments, and anesthesia are all among 200 drug shortages reported by the Federal Drug Administration.
That's the highest number ever recorded FDA.
Todd Brown, a pharmacy professor at Northeastern University, says the drug shortages are caused by manufacturing delays, quality problems, and sometimes drug companies decide not to make the product because they are not making a big enough profit.
"If our water supply was tainted or in danger we would have a plan for an alternate water supply. For critical medications, I think we need to have a plan to ensure patients get these medications, " says Professor Brown.
The FDA "encourages companies to provide notifications about any issues that could lead to a shortage.
Current regulations do not require that companies notify FDA.
Dr. Attar says warning simply isn't enough and in Alison Curran's case there was no warning.
Curran advises other patients to believe in their doctors. "We are at the mercy of these pharmaceutical companies and I don't want to be at the mercy of somebody making a drug. I want the drug to be there when we need it."
There is legislation being considered on capitol hill to require makers of generic drugs to notify the government of any potential shortages.
Last year the FDA was able to help prevent 38 drug shortages but only when they received advance notice.
