In a normal industry, when a product is in very high demand but has low profit margins, you don't get shortages the way this article describes. We don't run out of milk or baking soda. Yet the pharma industry frequently runs out of low-margin basics. This isn't how markets work.
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My guess is that the problem is regulatory barriers to entry for generic drug manufacturers. They have to prove to the FDA that their factory makes a product that's bioequivalent to the brand-name drug, which requires human studies.https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/09/24/the-problems-with-generic-medications-go-deeper-than-one-company/ …
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"If all you want to do is synthesize an active ingredient in powder form, and you’re not too concerned about staying on the right side of the law, it costs pennies... If you also want FDA approval, it costs $2 million and takes two years."
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Look at the current list of drug shortages. https://www.drugs.com/drug-shortages/ Guess what's at the top of the list? Sodium chloride solution. Fucking SALT. There is a shortage of saline bags in the United States of America. People are going to die.
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You know, there's a story about salt some of you need to read. It's by Isaac Babel. I'm told that in Russia people memorize it, like a poem.https://www.deviantart.com/the-black-cat/journal/Here-is-the-story-Salt-by-Isaac-Babel-320017385 …
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"ICU Medical cited increased demand as the reason for the shortage." Of SALT WATER. Oh no, there's increased demand for our products! Whatever shall we do? I guess we'll just have to sit on our butts and let ICU patients die! We couldn't, I don't know, increase production?
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Why are there only five companies listed as making saline bags? https://www.drugs.com/drug-shortages/0-9-sodium-chloride-large-volume-bags-76 … It's a sterile bag of salt water! Ok, it has to have the right concentration, it has to have a Luer lock that's the right size for a standard IV syringe, but honestly that doesn't sound hard.
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New rule: orphan drugs to be produced and distributed by NIH at cost.
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That’s going to be more popular than deregulation but aaaaah. The NIH is not a manufacturer! They have no experience in this! I don’t think it would work.
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It looks like another example of the side effects of the GDUFA, which I wish more people would talk about. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5912081/ … Charging everyone the same fee for being able to produce a drug drove a lot of consolidation and single points of failure.
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