Frequently Asked Questions about Drug Shortages (2024)

FAQs

What is the most common reason for drug shortages? ›

Manufacturing quality issues are the major reason for drug shortages. However there have been other reasons such as production delays at the manufacturer and delays companies have experienced receiving raw materials and components from suppliers.

The big picture: Drug shortages have multiple causes, including factors like increased demand, natural disasters disrupting production and manufacturing quality issues.

The key to preventing drug shortages might be to find manufacturers of high-quality products and pay them enough for their drugs so that they make a reasonable profit and can invest in their facilities when they need to.

It also found that while the average drug shortage lasts about 1.5 years, more than 15 critical drug products have been in shortage for over a decade. Many Americans became aware of national shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key Takeaways

A shortage occurs when the quantity demanded is greater than the quantity supplied at the market price. There are three main causes of shortage—increase in demand, decrease in supply, and government intervention.

We found that drug shortages were predominantly reported to have adverse economic, clinical and humanistic outcomes to patients. Patients were more commonly reported to have increased out of pocket costs, rates of drug errors, adverse events, mortality, and complaints during times of shortage.

The shortage began in late 2022 initially due to a delay from a manufacturer. As of early 2024, the shortage is now demand-driven, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Lack of available treatments for emergent medical conditions and poisoning negatively impact drug therapy in a variety of ways. Shortages compromise or delay medical care, result in medication errors, and increase patient mortality and morbidity [1, 2].

Drug shortages have reached a record high in the first three months of 2024. In the first quarter of the year, 323 drugs were running low, surpassing the 2014 high of 320, according to data provided by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the University of Utah Drug Information Service.

The six key actions to implement the medicine shortage-reducing strategies are: (1) initiate a biannual forum for hospitals and industry; (2) establish a medicines substitutes information service operating nationally; (3) share information on likely changes to hospital usage; (4) reform stock allocation strategies; (5) ...

How to solve America's drug shortage problem? ›

Encourage New Manufacturers and New Manufacturing Sites

Entering the market to manufacture a generic drug is a multi-year process that requires investment in scientific, manufacturing, and regulatory functions. This makes it difficult for new manufacturers to enter the market and increase supply when shortages occur.

That's according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), which has released new data showing there were 323 drugs in shortage in the U.S. as of 2024's first quarter—the highest number recorded since ASHP began tracking shortage data back in 2001.

An analysis published in 2019 estimated that drug shortages result in at least $359 million annually in additional labor costs to hospitals. This comes on top of the estimated $200 million annually that hospitals and health systems spend paying higher prices to acquire alternative therapies.

The pandemic, the labor shortage, and changes in demand are causing cascading supply chain issues leading to shortages of goods from cars to chicken wings.

While the supply chain shortages started with COVID, they're also due to increased consumer demand, which was fueled by the federal stimulus checks that we probably didn't need to keep the economy recovering. We just didn't understand how consumer demand was going to shift, once the pandemic began to ease.

The ongoing shortage, entering its second year, stems from several problems: a growing demand for the medications (including a rise in adults seeking treatment for ADHD), supply chain issues, telehealth trends and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulations on production of controlled stimulants.