Senate Committee Hears How Drug Shortages Impact Patients

A Senate Committee meeting has revealed that experts are worried about the impact of critical drug shortages on the American public. Anderson Cancer Center’s Lymphoma Clinical Research program director Dr. Jason Westin recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and told committee members that the United States is facing a shortage of generic cancer drugs.

Westin said generic cancer drugs have been instrumental in saving the lives of many cancer patients, but the country is currently facing a shortage of these critical drugs. He told committee members the shortage is putting him and his patients in an terrible position as generic and affordable cancer drugs such as fludarabine are often the difference between life and death for many patients.

Although the U.S. isn’t the only country that faces drug shortages, studies show that the country’s decades-long shortage of drugs is a uniquely American problem. Consequently, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance has been investigating the probable causes and solutions to the increasingly dire issue.

Many senators noted that they had received testimonies from constituents who had patients or were sick themselves but simply couldn’t find the generic medication they needed. According to Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Vanderbilt, Nashville, medical center has been forced to set aside more than 100 employees to mitigate and manage the supply chain disruptions caused by medication shortages. The Tennessee Republican said that shortages are becoming “all too common” with medical providers in the state.

Idaho Senator Mike Crapo estimated that most of the nearly 200 medication shortages involve generic medications that have been around for decades rather than novel drugs. Since generics typically account for 9 out of every 10 subscriptions in the U.S., these shortages significantly impact millions of American patients. Crapo noted that the shortages can “inflict drastic harm” on huge chunks of the population with at least 500,000 consumers having to secure alternative treatments or go without treatment in the near-term.

Cancer patients have been especially affected by the shortages as many of the generic drugs that are currently in short supply treat cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that fludarabine, a generic drug used in immunotherapy, is currently in short supply and has faced supply issues for the past few years. These shortages can be particularly harmful for cancer patients suffering from blood cancers because they simply don’t have the time to wait for the supply chain to bounce back.

Additionally, patients who receive immunotherapies such as CAR T-cell therapy often have a very narrow window where the treatment is most effective, meaning shortages for medications that have no alternatives, such as fludarabine, can cost lives.

Companies that focus on making generic drugs, such as SOHM Inc. (OTC: SHMN), help to avail affordable drugs and thereby alleviate some of the would-be shortages that are being experienced around the world.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SOHM Inc. (OTC: SHMN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/SHMN

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