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Danger of anesthesia drug shortages

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    Dr. Marc Siegel weighs in on new medical survey

  • Duration 3:23
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Well a shocking headline revealed any new medical survey some doctors are blaming anesthesia -- shortages.

For the deaths.

Some patients doctor Marc Siegel as a member of the foxes and -- eighteen a professor of medicine and and why you -- -- and medical center so -- first question is why you know why would a shortage of anesthesia drugs.

Lead to -- -- You know during this is just the tip of the iceberg we have about 265.

Drugs that are short right now which is five times what it used to be five years ago.

Another stage as you might imagine is when you really worry about because it's a life and death situation and I think it's routine in hospitals for there to be delays and anesthesia.

Death is rare I mean 88 doctors in this survey out of 3000 said that patients actually die from this.

But I've seen personally where surgery had to be delayed where you can get the anesthesia that you want it.

No why is it happening the first reason is because of patents running out the drugs have been down around awhile the patents run out they can't make a profit on the drug can be as a wanna make it the second -- Biggest -- -- -- going to get back that you just from what -- and they really important that.

That -- -- it's not the drug itself so it -- -- necessarily.

-- taking anesthesia that would kill me but the fact that.

I had to delay surgery because the anti seizure wasn't available on that that's what you think the doctors might be saying when they say that their patient passed away because it and a -- shortages.

That's exactly right they got into a situation in the operating room where the drug they want it wasn't available where they had to use an alternative -- where they were where they actually reach for a drug and it wasn't there.

That's what's going on them as I said it's tip of the iceberg -- cause it's not just Anastasia.

It's going on with chemotherapy.

With heart drugs with sedatives with -- antibiotics were steroids it's well the first rays and I said already it's because the patents are running out and there's no profit to be made the second reason is.

That all of these intravenous drugs have to be sterilized and there was a report last year that some of them they found glass fragments they found.

Fungal.

Contamination.

So it's very hard and very expensive to make sure that they're sterilized.

The third reason is that there may be production problems from that in the maybe distribution problems and and the other reason is that there's not enough of the spotlight being shined on this.

-- the FDA is saying well we wanna know six months in advance of these shortages.

But I think that that's not necessarily gonna solve the problem either could you can't force the drug companies to make it a product that they're not making a profit on I only have thirty seconds now what desktop it.

Well we could stockpile drugs we really we could allow them to charge more we could look into the insurance issue where insurance refusing to cover some of these drugs so that the drug manufacturers don't wanna make them.

It's a big mess when we go.

Under the current health reform climate of extending insurance to more and more people but not necessarily covering the lifesaving medications we need we're already getting -- 85% of our drugs from overseas that's already amassed we have to figure out a way to incentivized this so that the drug companies actually make the drugs we -- this is a real crisis in our health care system right now.

The -- -- maybe the worst example but chemotherapy is a terrible thing.

Heart medications antibiotics steroids a lot of them by the way over in the war theater still where we really need them as well -- -- don't have the drugs we need.

Sadly this space for a longer conversation which we look forward having with you dockets in big topic.

Thank you for joining us today thanks Gerri thanks for having -- -- coming.

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