(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . With pharmaceutical drug shortages at near all-time high, Tampa Dem calls on congress to act now [1] ['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- July'] Date: 2023-07-06 During the COVID pandemic, Americans became all too aware of supply chain problems that affected every part of the economy. In the case of pharmaceutical drugs, however, the delays causing these shortages are creating a huge problem that could make the difference in whether people live or die. A Tampa Bay area lawmaker and the head of a local advocacy organization spoke out on Thursday to bring awareness to the problem and to discuss the need for legislation to deal with what health care officials say is a crisis that isn’t likely to end anytime soon. “Here in the United States of America, there should not be a cancer patient that doesn’t have access to the drug that they need,” Democratic U.S. Rep Kathy Castor said. “There shouldn’t be a child with asthma that cannot get albuterol, and we have the solutions to do this,” she said. “So, what we’re asking today is for the Congress to take up some of these solutions.” Castor spoke during a roundtable discussion on Thursday with more than three dozen doctors, pharmacists, parents, and patients at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa. Drug shortages in the United States increased by nearly 30% between 2021 and 2022, according to a report commissioned by the U.S. Senate that was published in March. The report noted that, as of the end of last year, a record 295 were in active shortages, a five-year high. It found that while the average drug shortage lasts about 1.5 years, more than 15 critical drug products have been in shortage for over a decade. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lists shortages of 138 drugs. Among them are albuterol sulfate, used to treat breathing problems; Ketamine injection, an anesthetic used to promote sleep before and during surgery; and sulfasalazine tablets, for treatment of ulcerative colitis, an irritation in one’s intestines. “The shortage of certain cancer drugs has become a serious and life-threatening issue for cancer patients across the country,” Karen Knudsen, head of the American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said in a written statement issued in May. Several pieces of legislation have been filed in Congress to address this problem, including a bill filed by Castor to require manufacturers of critical medical devices to report supply interruptions likely to lead to shortages. Those devices include needles and syringes, personal protection equipment (PPE) and infusion pumps and devices used in dialysis treatment. Specifically, Castor would like to see one of those bills attached to the reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which is set to expire on Sept. 30. Advocacy Also present for the press conference was Laura Bray, who said that her advocacy group, Angels for Change, has helped hundreds of patients and hospitals find drugs by navigating the pharmaceutical supply chain. Bray was working as an adjunct professor at Hillsborough Community College when she was informed in November 2018 that her then-9-year old daughter Abby had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Doctors informed her that Abby’s diagnosis wasn’t fatal, as long as she stayed on a strict drug regimen. But in April 2019 Laura was informed that the drugs that could treat Abby weren’t available due to supply chain problems. That’s what compelled her to form her group (the only one of its kind in the U.S, she said). That advocacy work brought her to Capitol Hill in May to testify in front of a committee in the U.S. House that was examining the causes of the pharmaceutical drug shortage. Bray told reporters Thursday that the shortage is a systemic crisis with “multilayered” solutions. “When we started in 2019, there wasn’t a lot of awareness about this,” she said. “The supply chain was being held by hospitals and physicians and pharmacists doing herculean efforts. The change in awareness is an unbelievable progress forward and now we have to execute on that progress. And I think we can do it.” During her roundtable discussion, Castor asked some in the room to reach out to Florida Republicans in Congress who could help push drug shortage-related legislation forward, mentioning Pasco County Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Rep. Neal Dunn, who represents Tallahassee and Panama City, and Kat Cammack from North Central Florida. All sit on relevant committees. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/07/06/with-pharmaceutical-drug-shortages-at-near-all-time-high-tampa-dem-calls-on-congress-to-act-now/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/