Although one can get hardened and cynical observing what goes on in this world, there are still unpleasant surprises. The amoral practice of some elements of the drug industry is despicable. According to an Associated Press review, 15 deaths in the past 15 months have been connected to a growing drug shortage in hospitals.
As a result, hospitals have been increasingly moving toward the "gray market" in drugs. This is akin to a loan shark on the street loaning money to desperate people at huge interest rates. For example, a "gray vendor" was selling a $25.90 per-dose extreme blood pressure medication for $1,200 a dose. Routinely, the most expensive drugs sold on the "gray market" are drugs for cancer, pain management, surgery and other serious diseases.
The loan shark vendors should be stamped out, or at least not allowed to charge these fees. It is amoral to deliberately profit on the suffering and death of ill people. On the assumption that some of these "gray vendors" get their product illegally as a result of drug thefts, Congress is planning to up penalties for drug thefts from tractor-trailers and storage warehouses. That's fine, but it doesn't go far enough. The ridiculous profits the gray vendors "earn" off suffering need to be reduced to normal levels by legislation. Those who sell at double the normal price or similar prices should pay be held legally responsible for their acts.
But it's not just the "gray vendors" who are to blame. Many reputable drug companies have contributed to the hospital shortages are refusing to make injected generic drugs -- which hospitals need -- because their profits are not high enough and because of manufacturing problems. Also, these companies leave these markets without having to notify the FDA or even their customers. That's ridiculous.
Congress is working on a bill to require companies abandoning the manufacturing of a drug to immediately notify the FDA. That's a good step. It would at least allow a time frame for other companies to make the drugs. There also needs to be a concerted effort by the major drug firms to make sure an adequate supply of drugs are available to hospitals.
Besides the benefits for patients, it would go a long way toward proving that the pharmaceutical industry does indeed have a heart tucked away somewhere.
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