US drug shortages hit record high and lawmakers warn they could mean 'life or death for MILLIONS of patients' - as girl, 9, with leukemia faces 15-MONTH wait for lifesaving medication that costs just $10

[Geee]

Daily Mail

Shortages of life-saving medications have reached record highs in the United States, putting millions of Americans at risk of major relapse — and even death.

Patients with aggressive blood cancers, life-threatening pneumonia and mental illness are just some of those waiting more than a year for vital medicines, a DailyMail.com investigation has learned.

One notable medicine in short supply is the antibiotic amoxicillin; used to treat bacterial infections, including the bacterial infection partly driving the so-called 'white lung' outbreak in Ohio and China. 

The number of medications in short supply rose nearly 30 percent between 2021 and 2022 in the US - reaching a five-year record high of 295, according to official figures. 

And a recent American Cancer Society survey found one in 10 patients has been affected by shortages, forcing them to use substitute drugs or delay treatment.

One teenage lymphoma patient from Indiana was forced to take a type of chemotherapy that had previously led to a life-threatening allergic reaction, because the medication he had tolerated was out of stock.

Another Florida-based mother of a nine-year-old girl with aggressive Leukemia was told to expect a 15-month wait for a $10 drug that would save the young girl's life. :snip: