"As a doctor I took an oath to do no harm, but I fear there will be more and more occasions when I can do no good." - Hagop M. Kantarjian, M.D. on cytarabine shortage
Imagine hearing on the national news that a drug essential in treating your cancer was in short supply
That impossible scenario has been a reality for patients across the United States with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that destroys the healthy production of white blood cells. The shortage of cytarabine, the medicine critical in AML therapy, has left physicians in major medical centers to small towns faced with impossible problems and unimaginable decisions.
Hagop M. Kantarjian, M.D., chairman of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's Leukemia Department, who calls the shortage "a national tragedy," described the problem in greater detail in The Washington Post.
"A colleague from Wisconsin wrote, 'We have been forced to form a panel of physicians, pharmacises and nurse practitioners to make make difficult decisions regarding ....this drug (i.e.., who can receive it and who can't).' "
Alicia Staley, writing on WEGO Health said Monday, "As a cancer survivor, this is one of the scariest stories I've ever read."
Three things to understand:
1) Cytarabine is GENERIC. It is incomprehensible to imagine, say, a shortage of Viagra (which isn't prescribed for a condition that can physically kill you relatively quickly, as in the case of AML). The FDA has no authority to make any manufacturer produce cytarabine or even inform the public about issues that might cause shortages. This shortage is not a problem in Europe.
2) There are three companies that manufacture cytarabine, described in greater detail in Alicia's post.
3) A compounding pharmaceutical company, Wedgewood Pharmacy, announced today that is compounding cytarabine, a sterile injectible. A company representative confirmed that Wedgewood has cytarabine available NOW.
Unlike the mortar and pestle image of the pharmacist in a white coat that most of us conjure up, Wedgewood is one of the largest compounding pharmacies in the country, with the facilities necessary for the safe production of cytarabine. Generic drugs are comprised of active pharmaceutical ingredients, or API, which compounders use basically as a "recipe" to prepare a medication.
Let's hope that this development with Wedgewood provides oncologists and their patients a workable alternative to an incomprehensible problem. I don't know about you, but I still have more questions than answers. The issue of generic chemotherapy shortages is alive and in an open file.
1/11/2011 NCI Bulletin: Continued Shortage of Chemotherapy Drugs Causing Concern
4/04/2001 Drug Shortage is Costing Lives
4/14/2011 Cytarabine Crisis: Leukemia Drug Shortage Affecting Many Hospitals - Richard Besser, MD, ABC WorldNews
4/18/2011 When the Drug You Need to Cure a Cancer is Nowhere to be Found
That impossible scenario has been a reality for patients across the United States with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that destroys the healthy production of white blood cells. The shortage of cytarabine, the medicine critical in AML therapy, has left physicians in major medical centers to small towns faced with impossible problems and unimaginable decisions.
Hagop M. Kantarjian, M.D., chairman of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's Leukemia Department, who calls the shortage "a national tragedy," described the problem in greater detail in The Washington Post.
"A colleague from Wisconsin wrote, 'We have been forced to form a panel of physicians, pharmacises and nurse practitioners to make make difficult decisions regarding ....this drug (i.e.., who can receive it and who can't).' "
Alicia Staley, writing on WEGO Health said Monday, "As a cancer survivor, this is one of the scariest stories I've ever read."
Three things to understand:
1) Cytarabine is GENERIC. It is incomprehensible to imagine, say, a shortage of Viagra (which isn't prescribed for a condition that can physically kill you relatively quickly, as in the case of AML). The FDA has no authority to make any manufacturer produce cytarabine or even inform the public about issues that might cause shortages. This shortage is not a problem in Europe.
2) There are three companies that manufacture cytarabine, described in greater detail in Alicia's post.
Unlike the mortar and pestle image of the pharmacist in a white coat that most of us conjure up, Wedgewood is one of the largest compounding pharmacies in the country, with the facilities necessary for the safe production of cytarabine. Generic drugs are comprised of active pharmaceutical ingredients, or API, which compounders use basically as a "recipe" to prepare a medication.
Let's hope that this development with Wedgewood provides oncologists and their patients a workable alternative to an incomprehensible problem. I don't know about you, but I still have more questions than answers. The issue of generic chemotherapy shortages is alive and in an open file.
1/11/2011 NCI Bulletin: Continued Shortage of Chemotherapy Drugs Causing Concern
4/04/2001 Drug Shortage is Costing Lives
4/14/2011 Cytarabine Crisis: Leukemia Drug Shortage Affecting Many Hospitals - Richard Besser, MD, ABC WorldNews
4/18/2011 When the Drug You Need to Cure a Cancer is Nowhere to be Found
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