HHS needs a drug shortage plan, watchdog says
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The Department of Health and Human Services needs to identify and create a formal way to coordinate its drug shortage response with other federal stakeholders, and it's unclear what it plans to do to make that happen, per a new report from a government watchdog.
Why it matters: Drug shortages have been disruptive, increasingly long-lasting and in some cases life-threatening in recent years. Industry often points to a need for policy interventions including improved coordination from federal agencies that are part of HHS.
The Food and Drug Administration, as part of HHS, is responsible for tracking and addressing drug shortages in the U.S., the Government Accountability Office wrote in a report posted Wednesday.
- But "HHS did not have a coordinating structure across the department to oversee its responses and strategies," the GAO wrote, prompting the Biden administration in November 2023 to create a coordinator position within HHS to strengthen medical product supply chains and address related shortages.
Yes, but: HHS told the GAO when it received a copy of the draft report that the coordinator position and associated work will end in May.
- "This will leave HHS without a mechanism for coordinating the department's drug shortage activities," the report reads. "The department stated that the current administration had not indicated how it will direct and coordinate supply chain activities moving forward."
By the numbers: The number of active drug shortages is 270, roughly the same as the past three quarters, but down from an all-time high of 323 in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
- Shortages of critical and life-saving fluids remain a concern following the manufacturing delays caused by the repercussions of Hurricane Helene, ASHP wrote.
