The Impact of Drug Shortages on Medical Research
The Department is concerned about the market impact of drug shortages on patients and their health care providers. Drug shortages can result in operational difficulty and strain for medical studies and clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within HHS. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. NIH conducts approximately 630 intramural clinical trials on its Bethesda, Maryland campus and extramurally funds about 5,100 clinical trials at research institutions across the country. As I outline below, drug shortages create significant difficulty and disruptions (STUMBLES) for medical researchers and the patients they treat.