Health
FDA Lacks the Tools to Prevent Surprise Drug Shortages, Senators Say
- Hundreds of drugs in short supply imperil health of patients
- Senators, experts at hearing discussed lack of transparency
This article is for subscribers only.
US regulators, coping with more than 100 drug shortages, don’t have enough information to predict which medications will run low next, according to an analysis discussed in a Senate committee Wednesday.
Components of the supply chain — including where drugs are made and the reasons manufacturers can’t produce them — aren’t always made public, lawmakers and expert witnesses said in a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing. That makes it difficult to understand and prevent medication shortfalls, they concluded.