Drug makers desert public over profits - Part 2

One of the biggest problems when pharmaceutical companies abandon certain drugs is the “scrambling” necessary to take care of patients. Dr. Richard Schilsky, professor of medicine and chief of hematology/oncology at the University of Chicago said, “We literally don’t know from week to week who’s going to be able to be treated.” Erin Fox, manager of the Drug Information Service at the University of Utah Health Care says it is a daily disaster.

The Institute of Safe Medicine Practices surveyed 1,800 health care workers this past summer that confirm it is a “mess” out there. More than hald indicated that in the past year they either “always” or “frequently” been confronted with shortages of common drugs. Two deaths resulted from a morphine shortage. Another patient woke up in the middle of surgery because they were under-sedated.

Read more here.