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Drug Shortages Resource Center

Welcome to PhRMA’s Drug Shortages Resource Center, which provides information for patients who may be affected by a prescription drug shortage.

Patient access to medicines is of paramount importance to the biopharmaceutical research industry. The drug shortages issue demands attention and collaboration from everyone who provides life-saving medicines, including our industry of brand-name drug companies, as well as generic drug manufacturers. This Resource Center includes information about the shortage issue, steps to take if you are affected by a shortage, and additional resources that may help guide you if you’re concerned about this issue.

Shortages affect less than 1 percent of all drugs on the market, and the large majority of shortages involve generic medicines. However, any shortage of medicines can deeply impact patients. America’s innovative biopharmaceutical companies have long worked to prevent drug shortages in advance, and will continue to work closely with the FDA to prevent manufacturing disruptions. 

The factors that contribute to drug shortages are complex and multidimensional. They can occur for a variety of reasons found throughout the supply chain, including shifts in clinical practices; wholesaler and pharmacy inventory practices; raw material shortages; changes in hospital and pharmacy contractual relationships with suppliers and wholesalers; adherence to distribution protocols mandated by the FDA; individual company decisions to discontinue specific medicines; natural disasters; and manufacturing challenges. 

PhRMA member companies are deeply concerned about patients’ well-being and are committed to maintaining good manufacturing practices, as well as working closely and collaboratively with the FDA, supply chain partners and healthcare providers and their patients when unexpected – and rare – shortages of brand-name medicines occur.

Resources

Do’s & Don’ts for Drug Shortages

If you are experiencing a drug shortage or are concerned that your medicine may be in short supply, please consider the following:

DO

  • Talk to your physician or health care provider about other treatment options.  Patients whose medicine may be in shortage should talk to their physician. In some cases, a similar or equivalent medication may serve as a temporary substitute while the manufacturer and the FDA work to resolve the problem.
  • Check the FDA’s Drug Shortages Resource page. Patients concerned that their medicine may be in short supply should visit the FDA’s Current Drug Shortages page  to see if the drug has been reported in short supply. 
  • Check the drug manufacturer’s website for shortage-related information. Our members make significant investments in processes to ensure proper supply of branded medications, and when unexpected shortages occur, PhRMA’s member companies work closely with the FDA, supply chain partners, and providers to address the problem. Check the prescription drug manufacturer’s website for any drug shortage-related information. If you’re unsure about who makes your drug, check with your doctor or pharmacist.

DO NOT

  • Purchase medicine outside the traditional supply chain. Criminal networks around the globe are selling dangerous counterfeit drugs to innocent victims -- people who might think they are getting the same prescription drug may in fact be receiving medicines that are fake, substandard and in some cases lethal. Purchasing medicines online from websites that are not VIPPS certified by the National Boards of Pharmacy or outside of the U.S.’ s closed, carefully monitored supply chain can put patients at risk for counterfeit medicines.
  • Take someone else’s medicine. The misuse of medication, which happens when people give prescription medicines to family or friends, can be just as dangerous as prescription drug abuse. It’s up to a physician or health care provider – not family and friends – to make treatment-related decisions for patients.