Drug shortages in the US reach a record level and affect Wegovy

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Good afternoon! Drug shortages in the United States are at a record level, leaving countless patients in limbo.

A total of 323 drugs were in short supply in the first quarter of this year, down from the previous high of 320 in 2014, according to data released last week by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the University of Massachusetts Drug Information Service. Utah. This is the largest number of drugs since the groups began tracking shortages in 2001.

So, which drugs are affected by the shortage?

Supplies are tight for everything from lower doses of Novo Nordisk's hit weight-loss drug Wegovy, certain doses of Eli Lilly's popular diabetes shot and its weight-loss counterpart Zepbound, to key cancer treatments and common antibiotics. Many of them are generic medications, which make up the majority of Americans' prescriptions.

“All classes of medications are vulnerable to shortages,” Paul Abramowitz, CEO of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, or ASHP, wrote in a blog post Thursday.

But he said that “some of the most concerning shortages involve generic sterile injectable medications, including cancer chemotherapy drugs and emergency medications stored in hospital emergency carts and procedure areas.” Continued shortage of ADHD medications “also remain a serious challenge for doctors and patients,” Abramowitz added.

The drug shortage database maintained by the two organizations is based on voluntary reports from professionals, patients and others. The figures are confirmed by drug manufacturers. This list often includes more drugs than those considered by the Food and Drug Administration to be in short supply.

It is unclear how many patients are affected by the current drug shortage. But the average shortage from 2016 to 2020 affected at least half a million patients, many of whom are older adults, according to an analysis the Department of Health and Human Services shared with Congress in May.

Shortages can create serious problems.

Oregon-based Margot Wood, author of the book Fresh, said intermittent shortages of ADHD medications have disrupted her daily life for about a year and a half. Wood said he can generally function without the medications, but noted that each task is “much more complicated and difficult” and “takes three times as long” to complete.

“I need them not just for work, but for my relationships, being a mom, my hobbies and things like that and just keeping up with my everyday life,” Wood told CNBC.

While patients in some states can shop around for the medication they need at different pharmacies, Wood said there's not much you can do in Oregon. This is because Oregon considers ADHD medications to be controlled substances, meaning Wood can only fill his prescription at the designated pharmacy.

When his medications become available again, Wood said he often rations his supply to prepare for possible shortages in the future. He added that it is “frustrating” that the reason for the shortage is not clear to patients and even some pharmacists.

So what exactly is driving the drug shortages? And how can the problem be solved?

About 60% of drug manufacturers did not disclose the factors behind drug shortages, according to new data from ASHP and the University of Utah Drug Information Service.

Some drugmakers said demand has outstripped supply, as has been the case for weight loss and diabetes drugs. Others said manufacturing and quality issues, such as gaps in the supply chain, played a role.

But the Biden administration has suggested that a deeper problem may be causing shortages, particularly of generic drugs.

In February, the Federal Trade Commission and HHS said they were examining the role that drug wholesalers and companies that buy drugs for U.S. health care providers play in those shortages. The agencies will determine whether those middlemen have misused their market power to drive down generic drug prices to the point that manufacturers can't make a profit and have to stop production, and rival suppliers are deterred from competing. in the generic drug market.

The Biden administration has taken other steps to address shortage of medicines. Last week, HHS outlined policy recommendations to help prevent supply shortfalls and mitigate vulnerabilities.

This includes collaborations with drug manufacturers and hospitals that aim to make the drug market more transparent and encourage companies to invest in resilient and diverse drug supply chains.

Abramowitz said Thursday that some of the recommendations align with those of ASHP, but the organization has “serious concerns” about certain parts of the plan. He pointed to a proposal that could penalize hospitals that lack the resources to comply with the recommendations.

“There remains much work to be done at the federal level to address the root causes of drug shortages,” Abramowitz wrote.

Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas, and facts to Annika at [email protected].

All eyes were on UnitedHealth Group Tuesday morning as the company reported first-quarter results that gave investors a window into the cost of the Change Healthcare cyberattack.

UnitedHealth said its earnings took a hit of 74 cents per share from the breach in the first quarter, and it expects the full-year hit to be between $1.15 and $1.35 per share.

“The core story at UnitedHealth Group remains for our colleagues to deliver improved experiences for the people we serve and drive balanced growth even as they quickly and effectively address the attack on Change Healthcare,” said UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty, in a statement.

UnitedHealth, which owns Change Healthcare, discovered that a cyber threat actor had breached part of the unit's information technology systems in February. The company had to shut down affected systems, temporarily leaving many doctors without a way to fill prescriptions or receive payment for their services. Many are still dealing with the consequences.

UnitedHealth shares were up more than 5% as of 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

UnitedHealth's Optum acquired Change Healthcare for $13 billion in 2022. The merger was controversial, with groups like the American Medical Association claiming the union could stifle competition. The Justice Department sued to block the acquisition that year, but the deal eventually went through.

On the company's quarterly call with investors Tuesday, Witty said UnitedHealth's ownership of Change Healthcare is “important for the country.” He said the attack likely would have happened either way, but if UnitedHealth didn't own the company, Change Healthcare wouldn't have had the resources or support needed to get its systems back online.

“We're going to come back a lot stronger than before,” Witty said.

UnitedHealth Chief Financial Officer John Rex said during the call that the company's insurance unit, UnitedHealthcare, is “pretty much back to normal in terms of claims filing activity” following the cyberattack. He said claims are flowing as expected.

It is still unclear exactly how the attack occurred or what data was compromised.

Please feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas, or information to Ashley at [email protected].