Ahh.. what a lovely idyll we’ve had, talking to cultural icons in Cartagena, and enjoying the rich history of that lovely, romantic city! But now it’s time to get back to our usual discussions.
Here’s some follow-up to one of our previous stories on the extensive and pervasive drug shortages in this country. As I mentioned before, this is NOT a global problem, and this IS a created problem – manufactured by the manufacturers who have elected to decrease supplying unprofitable life-saving drugs or stop creating them entirely.
Now, the latest story on how hospitals and other pharmacies are paying hundreds or even thousands percent mark-up to get these essential drugs is a headline story over at MSN. These shortages have even caused problems in our criminal justice system - delaying executions in Ohio.
This editorial points out something we’ve discussed here at Cartagena Surgery – the fact that these shortages are not a new phenomenon, and one that our government can’t seem to get a handle on. I’d like to think that now with all the widespread large media coverage that it would put some pressure on manufacturers and lawmakers to address this issue – but I suspect that it’s just not the case. Until some famous media figure dies from not a drug overdose but from the unavailability of a medication for an otherwise treatable condition – I suspect the public and the government will continue to accept this as a matter of course. Our drug lobbies are just too powerful – and our politicians too easily bought. Even the reasons for the shortages are downplayed – with intentional discontinuation or reduction in manufacture being listed as the last of possible causes – not the first, and primary cause (which it is.) Instead, blame is being shifted to potential drug contamination and FDA regulations – which I find hard to believe. If that was the case, more contaminated drugs would find their way into the hands of consumers (which is actually a fairly rare occurrence.)
As for lifting FDA restrictions – these very regulations were put into place to attempt to rein in an industry that refused (and continues to refuse) to regulate itself – in a very Upton Sinclair-ish Jungle*.
* If you haven’t read that book in the last 20 years – do so. It was written in 1913, and it is an eye-opening look at how industry acts when given free rein. Incidentally, it’s free for Amazon.com Kindle devices.
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