Shortages of key drugs endanger patients

Washington Post ^ | April 26, 2011 | By Rob Stein

[RFEngineer]

“Take a look at the earnings for some of the Pharm companies. My problem with them is that they likely write off HUGE phoney amounts for research”

If they could make even more money providing an adequate supply don’t you think they would?

The problem is that they can’t make more money providing more drugs, so they don’t do it. Why should they?

They are not charities. Medicare/Medicaid and other payers expect them to provide drugs at a price they do not wish to provide them.

If you do not like this, pay them, and the problem will go away.

[Brilliant]

I think you hit it on the head. There may be no “official” regulation of prices in this industry, but there is defacto regulation via medicare, etc.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

It probably needs to happen again.

[EBH]

Thanks for posting this...I had not seen or heard it had taken place through an EXO.

This pretty much will seal it up for 0bamacare. People who don’t want the government tracking their health, wellness, drugs, therapies etc. will have to go to a doctor anyway...to get what...vitamins & supplements?

Centralizing power to control the markets. You wouldn’t believe how I hate, hate, hate this feeling of not being able to breathe the air.

[Redmen4ever]

Older drugs means off patent, correct? Therefore, price is driven down to competitive level.

Presumably, any drug manufacturer anywhere in the world could supply the market.

O.K., every now and then something happens like a strike that disrupts supply. But, this would be a temporary or isolated problem.

So, what would cause a continuing shortage of a commodity that any drug manufacturer in the entire world could supply????

Did somebody say government?

And don’t forget litigation attorneys.

[freespirited]

FDA officials dispute that greater government oversight is a major factor.

Oh puhleeze! I dont believe this for a nanosecond.

Thanks, Wapo, for an important article. Every now and then, you guys print something of value.

[doc11355]

Shortages create higher prices...

Higher prices then should stimulate increased production and eliminate shortages, if the market weren't restrained [think government price fixing via Medicare and Medicaid]

They likely write off HUGE phoney amounts for research...again and again and again....

Unless you think they're engaging in tax fraud, they're actually spending that much for research [Where do you think new drugs come from? Do you have any idea how expensive it is to even get one new drug past the regulators and to market? The answer is hundreds of millions per drug]

[hal ogen]

Watch for the upcoming headlines:

Shortages of doctors
Shortages of hospital beds
Shortages of nurses
Shortages of people who give a damn

Welcome to the age of DMV Health Care

nobama and the loser DIMs deserve your “thanks”.

[KoRn]

Our head hospital Pharmacist recently told me that there is a shortage of Morphine.... MORPHINE for God’s sake. There’s no sensible reason in the world for a shortage of that medicine. It’s easily manufactured from the ‘Poppy’ plant that grows like a weed, and can do so in most parts of the world.

All of this is probably due to meddling on the part of .gov(the DEA setting ridiculously low quotas) and pharmaceutical companies playing the JIT distribution systems for all they’re worth. A good part of this can probably be solved by having more FREEDOM in the marketplace.

[Condor51]

I'm suuuuuuuuuuure that all these Ambulance Chasing Maggot Lawyers who are suing the makers of almost every drug on the market has absolutely nothing to do with this shortage.

When I see those 'Sue Them Now' ads on TV my head almost explodes. Every drug, chemical, or molecule known to mankind has some type of side affect for some people. Peanuts being example number one. Bee Sting Venom at number two.

Everyone who doesn't live in a cave knows both are Deadly to some people. So who would these maggot Lawyers like to sue for that side effect, God?

[phockthis]

sfl

[algernonpj]

Thanks for posting that link.

[exDemMom]

Shortages create higher prices...Take a look at the earnings for some of the Pharm companies. My problem with them is that they likely write off HUGE phoney amounts for research...again and again and again....

Research can be incredibly expensive.

I recently was involved in the purchase of a scanner that was nearly $150,000. And that price doesn't even come close to the cost of some microscopes or other equipment. Supplies can be quite expensive. Synthesizing new drugs for testing can be time-consuming, and the failure rate is quite high--out of hundreds, maybe only a handful meet the requirements to move to the next level of testing.

Training and paying researchers also is not cheap, although it is probably less costly than some other parts of the process.

R&D of a single drug brought to market can run around a billion dollars. The companies do need some guarantee of being able to recoup that cost, or they have no incentive to develop new drugs.