TAMPA, Fla. — It's not what you want to hear from a doctor or pharmacist: there's a short supply of an important prescription medication.
Dr. Meghan Martin, a pediatric emergency medicine doctor at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, knows all too well how it can impact patients.
"As a physician, I've had to call four or five, six pharmacies to try to find the medication. I'm switching to medications that may have a longer prescription time. Instead of a week, we're doing 10 days or two weeks to try to get the infection treated," she said.
Martin's also dealing with the shortages in personal life.
"As a mom with four kids, some of them that do have medical needs, we've had difficulty getting ADHD medications. Having to go to the pharmacy four or five times. Multiple calls to our pediatrician," she said.
Martin's predicament shows that the nationwide prescription drug shortage can happen to anyone.
"Me knowing the system, I feel like it should be easier and someone who doesn't know the system, it can be a lot more challenging, take a lot more time to try to get these things done," she added.
That's why Martin proudly joined other healthcare professionals Thursday, writing a prescription of a different variety with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor.
"What we're asking today is for the Congress to take up some of these solutions. They are about to revisit the pandemics and all hazard law lessons learned from COVID and strengthening supply chains," she said.
The Food and Drug Administration lists medications in short supply daily. It ranges from lifesaving chemotherapy treatment to antibiotics to albuterol. About 140 medications are currently in shortage as of July 6, but the FDA warns there are many other drugs in short supply that don't make it to the list.
"It's been a 30% increase this past year in shortages. So this is a problem is not going away," said Dr. Juan Abanses, medical director of St. Joseph's Children's Hospital Emergency Center (BayCare).
The shortage is at a five-year high. He said the issue is so bad that they're using prescribed medications marketed for completely different diagnoses.
"Having to save kids with different infections with now; treating medications for syphilis, other antibiotics that children need just for ear infections," he explained.
The FDA said several factors can lead to a shortage, such as breakdowns in manufacturing lines, issues with product quality, or unexpected surges. To prevent and resolve shortages, the FDA can speed up reviews of new production lines, extend expiration dates if it's safe, and import medicine into the U.S.
The FDA's list shows about 70 medications as resolved.
Still, Laura Bray wants to see more done.
"The drug shortage crisis is not new. It's actually been going on for two decades. And it is not going to be solved by one person. It will take the combined efforts of all members of the supply chain, including policymakers, doctors, purchasers, and patients," said Bray.
She's fought for three and a half years to see this change.
"The day I heard in a hospital room that my child wasn't gonna get the medicines that she needed to survive. She asked me what that meant. Does that mean she dies? And there was not a single organization out there trying to solve this and it felt extremely hopeless," she said.
That's when she launched the nonprofit Angels for Change. Three and a half years later, she's feeling a different emotion.
"I have tremendous hope that this can be eradicated."
