Cancer drug shortages getting worse, FDA says

USA Today

Since 2010, the number of drugs either in short supply or not available at all has risen dramatically, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Most of these are generic drugs given by injection and used in hospitals to treat serious conditions such as breast and testicular cancer. These shortages are putting patients at risk and compromising their care, experts say.

"FDA has been monitoring shortages for the last six years, and in 2010 we saw a large spike in shortages, which was a large jump from the year before," said Valerie Jensen, associate director of the Drug Shortage Program in FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "That's what we are continuing to see in 2011. We are still seeing these large numbers of injectable drug shortages." Read More