Falconpowers – The crisis of shortages of essential and widely used medicines in the United States has escalated to unprecedented levels, according to data from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the University of Utah Drug Information Service.
These organizations began tracking drug shortages in 2001, and active shortages had peaked prior to 2014, with an actual shortage of 320 drugs. Shortage levels had fluctuated over the decade since then, but have been steadily rising again since 2021, now reaching a record high of 323 drugs in the first three months of 2024.
Paul Abramowitz, the CEO of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, wrote in a blog post on Thursday, “It has been a long time since we’ve gotten a handle on drug shortages.”
He added, “All drug classes are susceptible to shortages, with perhaps the most concerning shortages being in generic injectable medicines, including chemotherapy drugs, emergency medicines stocked in crash carts and operating rooms, as well as the ongoing national shortage of treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which continue to pose a serious challenge for clinics and patients.”
