Supply Chain Fragility and the Impact on Patient Care

Although COVID-19 brought increased awareness of the importance of supply chain resiliency, the criticality of consistent availability of high-quality pharmaceuticals has been understood by pharmacists and pharmacy providers for several decades given the enduring crisis of drug shortages. For the last 20 years, the supply of pharmaceuticals, particularly older legacy (i.e. generic) medications has been repeatedly interrupted creating urgent patient care challenges and increasing health care costs. The situation has progressed to the point that having almost 300 ongoing active shortages of medications is considered "normal." The status quo cannot continue when patient care is being negatively impacted by the absence of medications and when the U.S. health system is spending an estimated $359 million annually to manage shortages. In this session, we will discuss the current state of shortages (where things are improving and where they are not), the novel strategies and collaborations being implemented to alter the existing landscape, and the work that remains to define the value of quality and reliability in pharmaceutical manufacturing particularly as it relates to older molecules.

1015 - 1020: A Brief History of the Shortage Era by Steven Lucio
1020 - 1110: The Clinical Consequences of Drug Shortages on Patient Care by Carina Dolan
1110 - 1135: Chartering a New Path to Supply Resilience Through Collaboration and Shared Insights by Mittal Sutaria
1135 - 1145: Question and Answer/Panel Discussion moderated by Steven Lucio