(NewsNation) — Drug shortages in the U.S. have hit a record high since tracking began in 2001, according to data from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the University of Utah Drug Information Service.
The previous peak for shortages was in 2014, when 320 were in active shortage, but numbers have been trending up since 2021, reaching a high of 323 in the first three months of this year.
The shortages aren’t limited to any one class of drugs, but some of the most concerning are generic sterile injectable medications, which include chemotherapy drugs and medications stored in hospital crash carts.
Other drugs with significant shortages include medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, hormonal medications, popular weight loss drugs known as GLP-1s and pain medications.
The data from the drug shortage database includes information on the impacts to providers and patients, which means it often includes more drugs than are considered to be in shortage by the Food and Drug Administration.
Many of the medications have been in shortage for more than two years, longer than the typical 18 months that is average for a drug shortage. An average shortage affects at least half a million patients, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
There are a number of contributing factors to shortages. High demand, particularly for GLP-1 drugs, can impact supply. Manufacturing issues, including quality concerns, may also contribute.
The FDA also estimates 40% of medications and 80% of active ingredients are made overseas, primarily in China and India, making the U.S. vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.
Another factor is generic medications, often the only ones insurance companies will cover. Because the costs of generics have been driven lower by negotiations with insurers, many pharmaceutical companies decide to produce fewer of them, causing shortages that hit patients and providers but don’t usually impact the companies’ bottom lines.
Legal settlements around controlled medications like narcotics have also caused changes to production limits that have made the drugs less available.
To address the shortage, the Biden administration is pushing Congress to pass legislation that would give hospitals incentives for maintaining stockpiles of key drugs.