Fox News
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

Drug shortages an emergency in ERs

Details

  • Description

    Shortages of routine prescription drugs a growing problem in hospitals nationwide

  • Duration 4:40
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Health

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

This is a medical emergency.

Right now hospitals around the country are scrambling to deal with a critical -- drug shortage emergency rooms -- especially hard hit.

Secondly even -- is an ER physician she joins us nice to see if thank you out of the is it true that there are drug shortages yeah.

Absolutely every day -- about him and especially the generic.

Drugs that are injectable drugs so they're not profitable turned down a lot of companies stopped making them.

Nobody really was realized how few companies made them in some of them are drugs that.

Start your heart back again in codes have been asked -- and -- in a -- all these drugs that we run these AC LS codes that EMS even uses.

Critical drugs drugs that -- seizures.

Mom and every day you're faced with shortage as we will sure usually go to the shelf it's just not there yet you just not there and you know in the ER we don't have the luxury.

It's not an elective thing this is an emergency -- -- the luxury of trying to figure out another drug and because.

They're generics there are no new drugs for these these are very old old drugs that have been around for a long time and nobody's making them and -- -- because -- any sense of the profit margin there's no profit -- so no one wants to make them well that's what happened it was partially that the you know the federal government the reimbursement with solos with a profit margin was low and they're all generic drugs and no one was really watching how many generic companies were making him -- when -- was down to a couple companies and then there's.

Manufacturing problems supply problems with the you know women coming in hospitals -- his -- started -- the true and that someone goes in the hospital looked at Blix and his or her bella -- -- -- 200 dollars for an aspirin but.

And those that just like you know I've ever heard just not not -- mean it seems to keep him yeah.

Well I don't know about 200 dollar I'm very happy and but I hate entity pays substantial amount for different ask everything to be cheap it is to run dominant center of -- acting brilliant person and is probably not that high to the pharmaceutical company and then there's other issues for that and I think that that is less.

Happening much less now than maybe it was.

A long time ago so what's the solution.

Well -- FDA they have to make sure that enough companies are making these generic drugs.

And you know there were manufacturing problems they have to go some of them are minor things like.

-- have to be thrown out because of expiration dates and things like that so I'm realistically Simon -- right is it means in some instances drugs have a longer life and sometime probably -- any expiration dates wish but it's it's it.

It's a multi facts or real problem it's gonna take a lot of people working together again it if Alcatel my head I think if we if if you raise the price of the drugs more people wanna manufacture them right.

It's but -- you get health care costs that health -- if I have gone up part of -- we inches and it doesn't it's not as simple supply and demand for these type of drug that it doesn't have the same economic drivers and because a lot of it is the federal government will decide on the cost of the drug through their agencies.

And that kind of drives it down and then.

You know there's not research going on for -- A drug like -- -- -- offering to get your heart going again people are making new drugs and so is the generic -- written works it it's sort of show me say if it does work for the right price why would -- -- -- manufactured mean if you know why wouldn't some want to.

Well I think maybe there were some manufacturing glitch is you know injectable drugs have to be sterile sometimes when the FDA comes in and inspects.

You know plants and -- so they have to make sure that they're helping the plants.

You know -- reached the good manufacturing practices that are required for these types of drugs they have to make sure that enough.

People are enough plants and farms -- generics are making the drugs.

And you know they have to not completely drive the price I read an article that suggests there may -- just suggested that that.

The hospitals were -- watering things down try to make him to extend a little bit to me summit tread deal with the problem well and they were not watering and down as a parent.

Yeah now I'm Kyra that's my I'm not so they and you were getting the -- does then you should like people that break their pills in half when they can't afford them.

They were making them the -- does that they were using concentrated forms which is -- potentially dangerous because then you're mixing up I mean we all know what happens with.

The -- if you're using the wrong -- and incidents and that's what they were doing they were using stronger heparin they were watering it down to the correct instant dose may be.

But there's always potential for error that -- Well we need to fix this from and -- faster than me some problems -- -- --

Load More