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Volume 361:1525-1527 October 15, 2009 Number 16
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Drug Shortages and Public Health
Robert Steinbrook, M.D.

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Because the public discussion of drugs is dominated by considerations of their safety, effectiveness, and cost, it is easy to forget that medications have to be manufactured from raw materials before they can be prescribed. The continuing shortages of two medications for enzyme-deficiency disorders and of technetium-99m, the radioactive isotope most commonly used in cardiac studies, bone scans, and other diagnostic procedures in nuclear medicine, provide a salient reminder that adequate drug supplies cannot be taken for granted.

The viral contamination of a Genzyme manufacturing plant in Massachusetts, detected in June 2009, caused an unexpected shortage of imiglucerase (Cerezyme), for . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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Dr. Steinbrook (rsteinbrook@attglobal.net) is a national correspondent for the Journal.



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