Shortages of key drugs are rising, Senate report says

March 22 (UPI) -- Critical drugs, including antibiotics, cancer drugs and children's medication, have been in short supply for months, a new Senate report released on Wednesday said.

Between 2021 and 2022 drug shortages increased by nearly 30%, Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said in the report. Those shortages have created challenges for patients and healthcare providers.

"These shortages, which reached a peak of 295 individual drugs in shortage at the end of 2022, have left healthcare professionals grappling with limited resources to treat patients in need," committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said during a hearing on the issue Wednesday. "Taken together, these underlying causes not only present serious concerns about providing adequate care to patients, they also represent serious national security risks."

Nearly one-third of the drugs in short supply are antibiotics. The report specifically highlighted Propofol, which anesthesiologists give to patients before surgery. The drug has been in and out of shortages for the past 15 years, and the problem has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report also said that 90% to 95% of generic sterile injectable drugs rely on starting material from China and India.

"The federal government's inability to comprehensively assess U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain vulnerabilities and address known causes of shortages for critical drugs continues to frustrate efforts to predict drug shortages and effectively mitigate their impact on patient care," the report said.

The report recommended more federal investment in domestic manufacturing of drugs that are in short supply. It also said that Congress should require the Defense, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments to conduct supply chain risk assessments for drug shortages and identify potential national security concerns.