WASHINGTON — President Biden’s new plan to curb drug shortages by boosting domestic drug production won’t expand the supply of the chemotherapies that are currently in shortage, an administration official confirmed. The limited scope surprised experts, who told STAT Biden could have included those drugs in the effort. 

"We know how to treat cancer, but shortages force impossible choices. We have drugs that are lifesaving and shortages that are life-threatening." said Dr Jason Westin, Director of the Lymphoma Clinical Research program at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

On November 28th, STAT News hosted STAT in DC: Policies to Ease Medicine's Pain. Our Chief Change Maker, Laura Bray, shared the patient perspective during the event Interstitial.

“The organization does this by advocating for patients while building relationships with members of the pharmaceutical supply chain.” wrote Brielle Benyon.

Thank you Milken Institute for hosting a fantastic supply chain panel, "Transforming the Health-Care Supply Chain for the Future", at the 2023 Future of Health Summit.

"Don't let this moment go away. Don't miss this moment," she (Bray) said. "We've got to do the work, and everyone has got to come to the table."

Pharmacists increasingly are being asked to make drugs in bulk for hospitals that are in short supply, and they’re even beginning to make chemotherapies. But some in the industry worry about the unintended consequences of over reliance.