LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the importance of medications used to provide critical care to patients.
A report from U.S. Senator Gary Peters concluded that there’s not enough medicine to go around for medical issues.
Between 2021 and 2022, the U.S. saw a 30% rise in the shortage of medical drugs.
This issue is something Peters said you can’t slap a band-aid on and ignore.
“We have persistent shortages of critical drugs throughout Michigan and the United States,” he said. “In fact, over 200 different types of drugs are considered to be in shortage as we speak.”
It’s affecting medications like Lidocaine, the ADHD medicine Adderall, along with antibacterial medicine and it’s not slowing down.
“We’re hearing from hospitals across the state that every week, they have to come together and meet to try to figure out how they deal with a drug shortage and with critical medicine that their patients need,” said Peters. “Sometimes, they find that there are no alternatives, and it forces them to ration drugs.”
An over-reliance on foreign countries for drugs, market conditions driving away manufacturers, and poor supply chain visibility all have contributed to the problem.
Rest assured, because Peters said there are some remedies.
“What we need to do is have more transparency, we have to have a better understanding of these supply chains. We have to know where the weak links are and then we’ve got to step in to make sure that they won’t end up being in a shortage and that’s what we’ll be working on legislation to do,” he said.
Peters is hoping his report and call to action will better prepare the nation for the future.
