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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| 2011 medication shortages set new record |
| 2012-01-04 |
| Problem? What problem? |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #1 A lot of these shortages have been caused by the DEA, that somewhere along the line was given power to limit the amount of "commonly abused pharmaceuticals" that drug companies are allowed to produce. That is, it is a direct conflict between the FDA and the DEA. This means that if you look at the shortage drugs, the bulk are pain relievers, ADHD drugs, and drugs used as bodybuilding supplements. Most of the rest are "orphan drugs", with few users, and drugs no longer under patent, with low profit margins, that were made generically, but the company doing so went out of business or was bought out. Some are legitimate production shortages. There is some sanity behind the insanity, however, as drug companies had been overproducing huge amounts of drugs that were going directly into the black market, and they knew it. And they made no effort to tighten up their distribution networks, because of the great profits involved. FDA list of current drug shortages. A useful reference to find out ahead of time if you might be caught short. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2012-01-04 09:17 |