Does the Shortage of Generic Cancer Drugs Suggest an Argument for Government Subsidies, Reworked Tax Policy, or Sponsored Manufacturing?

© 2011 Peter Free

 

11 June 2011

 

 

This only matters if you’re dying, and then it matters a lot

 

Contrary to history-ignorant “free market” advocates, completely unregulated, un-incentivized capitalism often bypasses the common good.

 

Here’s an example from medicine:

 

[M]any . . . generic cancer drugs are in short supply, experts say.

 

“This is the worst in 3 decades since it's been tracked,” says oncologist Michael Link of Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, who is president-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

 

Shortages of other mostly generic drugs, including anesthesia drugs and antibiotics as well as cancer drugs, have tripled since 2006 to 211 shortages last year (see graph).

 

With cancer, “the fear is that it could have an impact on survival,” Link says.

 

Shortages can also complicate clinical trials that use the old drugs as a control or in combination with an experimental drug, Link says.

 

© 2011 Jocelyn Kaiser, Shortages of Cancer Drugs Put Patients, Trials at Risk, Science 332(6029):523 (29 April 2011) (paragraphs split)

 

 

Why shortages?

 

Generic drugs like these are often difficult to manufacture.  And, unlike branded drugs, they are not profitable.  That’s because patent protection has expired.

 

Vaccine-manufacture, incidentally, can be similarly discouraging to capitalists.

 

 

What would you do, if you were king or queen?

 

Pretend your child, sibling, or parent is dying.

 

Keep in mind that generics tend to have the longest track records for effectiveness and/or observed parameters for reasonably safe use.  Being cheaper than branded drugs, their use keeps health care costs down.