I'm sorry, but we can't get your meds. Federal policy you know.

[woolfe9999]

Hyabusa, serious question. In your OP, you state that FDA regulations have caused certain specific people to not get their blood pressure and/or anti-seizure meds. You have attributed this to FDA regulations. Your link describes several reasons for these drug shortages, one of which is regulation, and several others are market related. Do you happen to know what is causing these particular shortages you're referring to? I'm thinking you must know because you positively attributed it to one particular cause.

 

[1prophet]

There still is not limit. AGAIN!!! I worked in the places I know how it works. The drug makers tell the FDA what our machines can do safely. They look at our data and either agree or not. If we want to do more then we have to prove its safe at the new limits. You know the FDAs job.

You're the one that said "instituting regulations". You have still not backed that up.
This is not a new regulation and as someone linked to even a FDA issue but a drug maker one.

Does that limit apply for domestic use only or does it apply for export orders also?

What do you think of people importing the same exact drug from the same company from out of country in order to save money?

 

[Vette73]

Does that limit apply for domestic use only or does it apply for export orders also?

What do you think of people importing the same exact drug from the same company from out of country in order to save money?

There is no limit by the FDA. Any limit is by the drug maker.

To import a drug it still has to be FDA approved (i.e. they inspect the plant to make sure it meets specs and also test the drug to make sure it does what they say it does).

Japan sent over people to look at one of our plants when I worked at Biogen. Once they saw it and our results they approved our drug forsale in Japan. The company got sushi and other asian food for us in celebration that day.

I don't mind drugs being imported as there are a lot already that are. The problem is many of them are way out of spec or just outright fakes.

 

[theeedude]

You just can't please HR. Government gets involved, we can't get you your meds. Government lets the free market take care of it, you can't get your meds either, go die of AIDS.

 

[Jhhnn]

Three people no longer can get their high blood pressure meds, and there are no substitutes.

No substitutes for what high blood pressure med, exactly? There are several high blood pressure meds on the market... I take lisinopril...

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

No substitutes for what high blood pressure med, exactly? There are several high blood pressure meds on the market... I take lisinopril...

No substitutes for this particular med. It's not commonly prescribed so it's usually given to people who need either another medication on top of another or who don't respond well to others.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

You just can't please HR. Government gets involved, we can't get you your meds. Government lets the free market take care of it, you can't get your meds either, go die of AIDS.

Oh snap, yeah that AIDS thing. Now how did that go again? Oh yeah. Government made regulations that it impossible to bill for thousands of dollars in meds. Oh they could have given the information, but they were forbidden. So you blamed everyone else who didn't cough up ten grand because of it.

In other news you think the Jews had it coming from Hitler, and those modern girls. You think they were just asking to be raped.

But then again, you would lock up doctors who violated minor regulations if they were badly written if they did so to save their patients.

In other words, keep it up. You are the Sarah Palin of government health care.

 

[Zebo]

I asked my brother about this a few min ago (he owns a pharmacy) and said oxycodone (sp) and provental (sp) he can't get

 

[Jhhnn]

No substitutes for this particular med. It's not commonly prescribed so it's usually given to people who need either another medication on top of another or who don't respond well to others.

I think you should be able to name it specifically if you're going to go on about it... How hard can it be?

 

[Zebo]

Personally I think it's a good thing. People don't need to be taking shit that hides their pain. Deal with it. Exercise an hour a day will solve 90% of all ailments. Stay away from the pushers. Legal or not.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I asked my brother about this a few min ago (he owns a pharmacy) and said oxycodone (sp) and provental (sp) he can't get

Frankly my company sucks and runs it's inventory low so I'm not surprised that it hit us first. That means we have to call the wholesaler. It seemed so strange that so many things went out at once that I asked them if we were paying our bills

Here's a list of reported shortages which I know is incomplete.
http://www.ashp.org/DrugShortages/Current
Still it's an indicator of how screwed up things are since it's about as long a list as I can remember.

Before people scream "BUT YOU DON'T KNOW THESE ARE BECAUSE OF..." yeah, we know that. It's just a list.

Maybe one of these days someone will look at what's needed to make the system more efficient.

 

[theeedude]

Oh snap, yeah that AIDS thing. Now how did that go again? Oh yeah. Government made regulations that it impossible to bill for thousands of dollars in meds. Oh they could have given the information, but they were forbidden. So you blamed everyone else who didn't cough up ten grand because of it.

Why would you want to bill the government and not let charity of everyone else take care of it like a good conservative?

In other news you think the Jews had it coming from Hitler, and those modern girls. You think they were just asking to be raped.

You dragged Hitler into this, really? Wow.

But then again, you would lock up doctors who violated minor regulations if they were badly written if they did so to save their patients.
In other words, keep it up. You are the Sarah Palin of government health care.

Right, so let's see, you are the one who wants big government to pay for AIDS meds, but don't want the money to come with any strings and regulations. Good luck with that.

 

[Onceler]

I hope that they do not do away with my meds .

 

[brainhulk]

I work at a hospital and we are having major problems also. However there is also a grey market that is compounding the problem. When one manufacturer gets shut down that leaves only one other that is manufacturing a drug, there are these grey market wholesalers that literally buy all the supply up. Then they turn around and sell it to institutions for a grossly inflated price.

I have argued with the purchaser that patients need these meds but I get push back telling me that administration refuses to buy them. Leaving patients to suffer...

 

[dmcowen674]

I'm sorry, but we can't get your meds. Federal policy you know.

We've noticed a disturbing trend in health care. Medications that have been commonly available are now not. In one day I found that 5 commonly prescribed drugs could not be ordered. I did a little research and found out a few things well summed up here.

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2011/06/08/rx-drug-shortages-regulation-can-be-deadly/

Now we've had an effective system which has served us well for quite some time. The Feds know best however, and now they are instituting regulations which work for them, but leaving patients in peril. One is the "zero tolerance" policy, which means that variances which could be corrected (and we're not talking dangerous problems, that's already accounted for in the process) results in the shutdown and redo of production lines. That's costly (read expect medication costs to escalate) and unnecessary. Problems that have to be fixed already are. Worse is that now there are caps on production and if they are exceeded because the crystal ball missed an increase in demand, then the Feds need to do another audit and you can't make any more until that's done.

So the result of this as I've seen it- Three people no longer can get their high blood pressure meds, and there are no substitutes. One who gets anti-seizure meds, same thing. Steroid creams, medications for OCD, a whole bunch of things are effectively off the market and the problem grows daily.

The government? Hey, that's the regs and that's what matters most.

Look for a lot more of this to come.

You have to leave the U.S. to get medical drugs and Healthcare

 

[davmat787]

Channeling Hayabusa Rider: Generally speaking, how does the supply chain work from manufacturer down to a retail regional sized pharmacy? TIA.