Four months in, and 2024 has already broken the record for the year with most ongoing drug shortages.
As of March 31, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) has added 48 new drugs to its tracker of national shortages. This brings the number of active shortages in 2024 — so far — to 323, according to a new ASHP report. This is the highest number it’s been since the society began keeping count in 2001.
The ASHP said both basic and life-saving medications are in short supply, with the top five classes of drugs affected are central nervous system medications, antimicrobials, hormone agents, chemotherapies, and fluids and electrolytes. Nearly half of the drugs (46%) in limited supply are injectables.
Some of these drugs include oxytocin, standard of care chemotherapy, pain and sedation medications, and ADHD drugs.
💊 Reasons for the shortages
The society said that 12% of the drugs involved in the active shortage are being partly exacerbated by quota changes at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
In August, the agency changed the process for manufacturers to receive their limit or quota allotment for how much they can produce.
As part of the new process, drug makers need to submit estimated production timelines before receiving a quota and must now apply for allotments on a quarterly basis, instead of annually.
In 60% of the cases in 2023, drug companies did not know or failed to provide a reason for a shortage, according to the report. Failure to meet demand was the top known reason for a shortage, at 14%. Business decision and manufacturing accounted for 12% each. And finally, a raw material issue accounted for 2% of shortages.
The new data comes just a week after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a white paper with recommendations for Congress to address the issue. One key recommendation was to establish incentives for hospitals to avoid drug shortages.