

Drug Shortages at All-Time High - siculars
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/10/news/economy/drug_shortages_fda/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2

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siculars
So how does this get hacked? More regulation? Enticing drug makers to make off
patent drugs? Less regulation? Allowing foreign drug manufacturers to import
supply?

All I know is that this is absolutely unacceptable.

~~~
Mz
Some hacks:

Getting healthier so people don't need so many drugs. Non-drug alternatives.

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siculars
Hmm... I dunno about that. People get cancer. Shit happens. There are many,
many cases where the only way you are gonna live is if you get the right drug
at the right time.

~~~
Mz
There's an awful lot of stuff where making dietary and lifestyle changes makes
a difference. This is well established. For example, diabetes is significantly
impacted by diet. In many cases, people would rather take a drug than
substantially change their diet. However, if that isn't an option because the
drug is unavailable, changing your diet is still an option.

~~~
ericflo
Yeah, and there's an awful lot of stuff where you die without the right
medication. Your comment seems especially flippant given the list of drugs
listed in this article: things like anesthetics used in surgery, drugs used in
emergency treatments, etc.

~~~
Mz
It's not intended as flippant at all. If you check my profile, there's a
website where I talk about the fact that I have a very deadly medical
condition and have gotten off like 8 or 9 prescription drugs. My remark was
intended to be a sincere reply to the question asked: If you are concerned
about drug shortages, one "hack" is to live differently so you are less likely
to need those drugs (including anesthetic for surgery). Some of the drugs that
there are shortages of have shown up in conversation on lists I belong to for
my medical condition. I pay little attention to it because I am drug free for
the last two years.

I get treated like a quack by much of the CF community. So it's hardly
shocking that people here should think I am being flippant. However, in
another thread on HN yesterday, there was a story about a $20 fan solving a
problem better than the $8 million dollar solution that outside consultants
were paid to design. "Hacks" often sound flippant, which is perhaps the reason
it annoys me that my remarks on such topics are so routinely interpreted as
"flippant" on this board and not a sincere attempt to contribute something
meaningful to the conversation.

Peace.

------
bediger
Note that these companies are not failing to profit, it's just that older
drugs are "not as profitable". It's a business decision to stop making a
smaller profit, and maybe having to compete with Fougera.

Big Pharma, going out of its way to earn its bad reputation.

