Posted on 08/05/2019 6:17:11 AM PDT by jerod
Three chemotherapy cancer drugs face national shortages, putting pressure on health care providers
Cancer specialists are concerned national shortages of three vital cancer drugs could lead to a time when they could run out of treatment options for patients in Canada.
The three drugs are all injected into patients' veins.
The federal government's drug shortage reporting website lists all three as experiencing national shortages, meaning the scarcity problem could affect patients throughout the country.
At hospitals in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, oncologists, pharmacists and nurses have all scrambled to find alternatives, make substitutions and share precious vials.
"My point in raising this publicly is not to alarm patients," Dr. Gerald Batist, director of the Segal Cancer Centre at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital.
"But to start to bring this into the public discourse so that we have some pressure on our government and on drug producers to find a solution to this.
"It's not really clear that any efforts are being made to solve this problem in a more permanent way."
The drugs include vinorelbine, which treats non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic breast cancer. Leucovorin is often used in combination with chemotherapy drugs to decrease their toxic effects. Etoposide treats lung cancer and testicular cancer. It can also accompany bone marrow transplants.
In an email to CBC News, Health Canada said it "recognizes the impact that these shortages have on the patients who rely on these important medications and is taking action to address them."
Dr. Bruce Colwell, a medical oncologist at QEII Health Sciences in Halifax, sees more frequent drug shortages at his hospital.
"I've dealt with sometimes two, three [shortages] but eight is for me a record," said Colwell, who's also president of the Canadian Association of Medical Oncologists.....
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
A customer who will pay whatever the traffic will bear? Or a customer who has negotiated a low fixed price?
I've been on both ends of this dilemma for other commodities and have discovered these magic words to deal with the problem, namely "We are willing to pay a reasonable and temporary surcharge to keep our supplies intact. How much will it be?"
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Suppose you manufacture cancer drugs, but don’t have sufficient capacity to meet demand. Who are you going to sell to first?
A customer who will pay whatever the traffic will bear? Or a customer who has negotiated a low fixed price?
I’ve been on both ends of this dilemma for other commodities and have discovered these magic words to deal with the problem, namely “We are willing to pay a reasonable and temporary surcharge to keep our supplies intact. How much will it be?”
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Unfort., govt can’t spin on a dime, the way biz nor individuals can. They only have powers & FORCE.
Their usual reply is, “You WILL continue to provide, at the same price\quantity, or we will use the force of govt to halt your selling capability (ban, even temp, vs. some perceived new ‘study’/form/requirement/etc.).”
When hit on the bottom such as that, your scenario comes right out the window.
And we’re supposed to be able to order drugs from Canada?
Freepers, this is in Canada. Their government oversees their program, the Medicare program, and don’t confuse it with our medicare, a funded one in Canada. And they are continuing to run into snags to apply it. It is a perfect example of why a government controlled health program won’t work. And if they’re so proud of it, why is the most used hospital by Canadians at “Ford” in Detroit, MI?
rwood
Socialized-Medicine-er..-Lack-Of-Medicine BUMP
That formula sometimes works okay when you are manufacturing something simple such as vodka. Pharmaceuticals? Not so much.
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True. But then you have Venezuela because the government either has to be capable of running the business or find people who are since no rational business will continue to operate at a loss.
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A: Operate at a loss (what’s it matter?, the Citizen piggy-banks & $$-printing presses can work over-time)
Govt can’t even run ITSELF.
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