At one New York medical center, half of the cancer patients required drugs that were considered in short supply in 2010 and 2011, and 10% were forced to receive an alternative, according to a study presented at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6114).
While the investigators hope that this did not compromise efficacy, about one-third of the time the physicians felt the substitute was inferior, said Daniel J. Becker, MD, of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt and Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, who led the study presented at ASCO.
The drug shortage crisis is easing, but an actual solution to the problem is still elusive, according to participants in a press briefing that addressed the issue at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) held in Chicago, Illinois.
Richard Schilsky, MD, chair of ASCO’s government relations committee and an oncologist at the University of Chicago, indicated, “Patient care has been threatened in many cases. But the good news is that the frequency of drug shortages is beginning to decline.”
Read More ›
To sign up for our newsletter or print publications, please enter your contact information below.