AHA letter to editor: Hospitals cannot address the drug shortage issue alone

While drug shortages are declining, too many lifesaving drugs and treatments remain scarce as a consequence of the larger issue of health care supply-chain shortages, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack writes in a letter to the editor of the New York Times, which recently published a story on the issue. “The issue of drug shortages is complex, with many causes ranging from manufacturing quality and compliance problems, raw material sourcing, and drug company consolidation and business decisions that result in the discontinuation of critical drugs. While there is no single solution to end drug shortages, there are many potential solutions that merit further evaluation. For example, we support policies that increase competition in the drug marketplace as well as ensuring that the Food and Drug Administration has adequate resources to reduce its significant backlog of generic drug applications. We should prohibit ‘pay for delay’ tactics for brand-drug manufacturers that prevent generics from entering the market. These are just some of the steps that can be taken to address the root causes of drug shortages. Hospitals cannot do it alone, and it will take all stakeholders, including drug manufacturers and government regulators, to find solutions so patients continue to get the care they need.”