Drug shortage in hospitals continues to grow - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Drug shortage in hospitals continues to grow

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MOULTRIE, GA (WALB) -

There's a growing drug shortage in Georgia hospitals particularly chemotherapy drugs and anesthesia.

Some shortages are because of manufacturing problems at drug plants.

But a pharmacist at Colquitt Regional Medical Center says most of the shortages are due to pharmaceutical companies deciding not to make generic drugs because the profit margin is lower.

"Basically it is because of generic drugs, when a company loses a patent on a drug, then other companies are allowed to make generics of it, and those are usually cheaper, and what I am hearing is that they are not making enough money so sometimes they just stop making them," says Wayne Evans, Colquitt Regional Medical Center Pharmacy Director.

Evans says he is hoping the feral government will step in to help fix the drug shortage problem. For now, they use the drugs on a first come first serve basis.

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