Shortage of Ordinary Medicines Quickly Becoming U.S. National Health Emergency – Biden Administration Silent, Beach Life is Bliss

Sundance reporting for Conservative Treehouse 

Underreported and essentially invisible within the mainstream news cycles, a critical shortage of ordinary U.S. medicine has been growing and becoming an emergency situation for many families.  If rationing kicks in fully, be careful about what you post on social media.  Determining allowances based on political ideology is a real concern.

In a general sense the issue is mostly an outcome of the U.S. outsourcing drug ingredient procurement and manufacture to China and India.  Many companies in both of those countries have been struggling with operational interruptions as a result of COVID-19.  As supplies in the U.S. rapidly dwindle, local news media outlets are now starting to pick up on the issue.  WATCH:

(Via Fox Business) – The nationwide shortage of basic antibiotics and critical medications that treat chronic conditions and bacterial infections has become the latest issue to hit the medical world. Consequently, it is forcing many doctors to rely on alternative medicines to treat patients.

“What was once an unthinkable situation—a shortage of basic antibiotics such as amoxicillin and Augmentin to treat ear and skin infections or even medications such as Albuterol to treat asthma—is now a harsh reality,” New York City-based emergency room physician Dr. Robert Glatter told FOX Business.

Even the “shortage of basic medications such as children’s Tylenol—integral to treating fever and mild to moderate pain—is impacting our ability to provide care for our patients,” Glatter said.

Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a list of more than 180 current or resolved drug shortages. He said there have been shortages of antivirals such as Tamiflu, which is used to treat high-risk patients with influenza, as well as diabetic medications such as Ozempic due to the “inappropriate and off-label use” of the medication for weight loss and cosmetic purposes.

Glatter predicted that the drug shortage problem rippling throughout the U.S. could last for at least another year, if not longer.

According to federal health officials, intermittent or reduced availability of certain products can occur for many reasons, including manufacturing and quality problems, delays and discontinuations.

However, Glatter said that the problem is in part because the U.S. is currently facing challenges in obtaining raw materials. For instance, source materials for manufacturing the active pharmaceutical ingredients in the majority of drugs come from China, which is dealing with limited production and output of raw materials involved in pharmaceutical manufacturing due to rigid lockdown measures, Glatter said.

The U.S. is also dependent on India for a significant number of generic medications, but India also relies on China for the raw materials used to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, he added. (read more)