Pharmacies across the US have been running low on some key generic and prescription drugs for months now.
While healthcare providers point to increasing demand due to a “tripledemic” of respiratory viral infections- flu, Covid and RSV – as the immediate reason, the shortages go beyond seasonal infections.
And experts say that the situation could get worse due to the Covid crisis now roiling China, one of the biggest US suppliers of generic drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients, but that “nearshoring” – doing business with manufacturers in other countries much closer to the US – won’t help any time soon either.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, some 120 treatments – including albuterol inhalers, morphine, lidocaine anaesthetics, chemotherapy drug fludarabine, even adderall, used by patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, are currently in short supply.
