(NewsNation) — Drug shortages in the United States are on the rise and pose a national security threat, NewsNation affiliate The Hill reports.
According to a new report from Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, drug shortages increased by nearly 30% between 2021 and 2022.
“The ensuing COVID-19 pandemic further exposed longstanding vulnerabilities in the U.S. medical supply chain and the growing threat to the U.S. from an overreliance on China and other countries for manufacturing key drugs, medical supplies, and the raw materials needed to make these products,” the report said.
During a committee hearing on the subject Wednesday, Chairman Gary Peters said, “These shortages, which reached a peak of 295 individual drugs in shortage at the end of 2022, have left health care professionals grappling with limited resources to treat patients in need.”
The “biggest concern,” according to the report, is that 90 to 95% of generic sterile injectable drugs in the U.S. rely on key starting materials and drug substances from China and India.
The report also said the average drug shortage lasts about a year and a half, and more than 15 “critical” drugs have been in shortage for more than a decade.
“Shortages continue to have devastating consequences for patients and health care providers, including medication errors and treatment delays, and in some cases, have led to doctors having to ration lifesaving treatments,” the report said.
Meanwhile, an Adderall shortage continues in the U.S. as well, and some say the medication is not working
Americans who rely on Adderall and other attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications are still struggling to fill their prescriptions months later as an ongoing shortage is making it hard for companies to meet demand.