• Center on Health Equity and Access
  • Clinical
  • Health Care Cost
  • Health Care Delivery
  • Insurance
  • Policy
  • Technology
  • Value-Based Care

Kids' Cancer-Drug Shortage Averted

Article

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it managed to avert a “crisis” for kids with cancer by preventing a looming shortage of the lifesaving drug methotrexate, a mainstay of treatment for a type of childhood leukemia.

The shortage is the latest in a series of serious shortages of cancer medications and other drugs that have frustrated doctors and patients over the past year and a half.

Only a few days ago, cancer specialists had predicted they could run out of methotrexate by the end of next week, according to Dr. Michael Link, a pediatric oncologist who is president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The shortfall arose when 1 of the 4 U.S. makers of methotrexate, Ohio-based Ben Venue Laboratories, shut down production late last year because of “manufacturing and quality concerns,” FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said.

Read the full story at: http://tinyurl.com/6vbfmqd

Additional media coverage available at Kaiser Health News: http://tinyurl.com/7d5396h

Sources: Gannett News Service, Chicago Sun-Times, Kaiser Health News

Related Videos
Mila Felder, MD, FACEP, emergency physician and vice president for Well-Being for All Teammates, Advocate Health
Shawn Tuma, JD, CIPP/US, cybersecurity and data privacy attorney, Spencer Fane LLP
Judith Alberto, MHA, RPh, BCOP, director of clinical initiatives, Community Oncology Alliance
Mila Felder, MD, FACEP, emergency physician and vice president for Well-Being for All Teammates, Advocate Health
Will Shapiro, vice president of data science, Flatiron Health
Mila Felder, MD, FACEP, emergency physician and vice president for Well-Being for All Teammates, Advocate Health
Mila Felder, MD, FACEP, emergency physician and vice president for Well-Being for All Teammates, Advocate Health
Will Shapiro, vice president of data science, Flatiron Health
Jonathan E. Levitt, Esq, Frier Levitt, LLC
Judy Alberto, MHA, RPh, BCOP, Community Oncology Alliance
Related Content
© 2024 MJH Life Sciences
AJMC®
All rights reserved.