Community Health Resilience

submitted by Luis Kun

HealthDay (10/3, Gardner) reports, "Prescription drug shortages in the United States, which reached a record high last year, are getting worse, the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday." Valerie Jensen, associate director for the Drug Shortage Program within FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that "so far this year, some 200 drug shortages have occurred compared to 178 in all of 2010." Jensen added that "many of the scarce drugs are injectables...used to treat serious conditions such as cancer. Some are only given in hospitals and are 'absolutely critical.'" Causes listed for the shortages include "quality issues, such as sterility or drug impurities," "delays or manufacturing capacity problems," "discontinuation" and "raw material shortages." The first is the largest cause by far responsible for over half of the shortages.