How the Shortage of a $15 Cancer Drug Is Upending Treatment
The nation’s monthslong shortage of highly potent cancer drugs is grinding on, forcing patients and their doctors to face even grimmer realities than those cancer typically presents. Thousands of patients like Mr. Shepard have been confronting gut-wrenching options, delays in treatment and potentially bleaker futures.
Oncologists are concerned that the alternatives to two crucial chemotherapy drugs are far less effective in treating certain cancers, and are sometimes more toxic. The backup therapies or lack thereof, they say, pose particularly troubling prospects for patients with ovarian, testicular, breast, lung and head and neck cancers.
There are few, if any, signs that the shortage will ease anytime soon. A plant that was a main producer of the more popular drugs shut down late last year and has not reopened, depleting its stock. The easing of restrictions on imported drugs from China this month has provided some relief, but doctors said the influx has yet to make much of a dent. Some companies that sell the medications are projecting that the shortage will last through the fall or later.
So far, neither a group of experts organized by the Biden administration nor prominent medical organizations have found a way to avoid rationing the crucial chemo drugs.
To bridge the gaps, some doctors are extending care intervals and skimming precious milliliters to stretch doses. Others are turning to a strategy of surgery first and chemo later, banking on a resumption of supplies.
Source: The New York Times
