Prescription drug shortages forcing docs, pharmacists to scramble

Aug 23 2011

Experts say shortage of certain hospital drugs has become a major crisis.

San Francisco Chronicle: Critical Drugs In Short Supply
Record shortages of prescription drugs in the United States are forcing pharmacists and doctors to scramble to find medications for their patients, suitable alternatives or to delay potentially lifesaving treatments. Medical professionals, including those at Bay Area hospitals and infusion centers, say they've been able to blunt some of the impact by turning to alternative drugs or reserving supplies of vital medications for patients who need them most. They caution, though, that the problem is reaching a crisis point and it's only a matter of time before those strategies will no longer work (Colliver, 8/21).

CBS (Video): Shortage Of Key Hospital Drugs A 'Major Crisis'
The Food and Drug Administration says hospitals are running out of many important drugs, including popular chemotherapy medications such as Doxil. That, officials say, has created a huge gray market in which some medications are marked up more than 600 percent. On "The Early Show on Saturday Morning," CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton told co-anchor Rebecca Jarvis, "This is a major crisis ... and we will be hearing more about it. ... Usually, when you talk about shortages, it's either one of two things, or both, supply or demand. In this case, it really seems to be an issue with supply" (8/20).