Reports of drug-related supply-chain issues were 40% less likely to result in drug shortages in Canada versus the United States, according to a study from University of Pittsburgh researchers and published in JAMA . The analysis looked at drugs that had reports of supply-chain disruptions between 2017 and 2021 in both countries and found that within 12 months of an initial U.S.
report, nearly half resulted in drug shortages in the U.S. versus about one-third in Canada.
There was also a consistently lower risk of shortages in Canada at each month after the reports. "Drug shortages cause real disruptions in patients' lives, often resulting in interrupted or delayed treatment," said senior author Dr. Katie J.
Suda, Pharm.D., M.
S., professor in the Pitt School of Medicine and associate director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing. "We can learn from other countries that are having success in mitigating the effects of drug shortages on patients.
" The researchers used supply chain-issue reports drawn from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and Health Canada.
They then compared these reports to actual drug usage in both countries, defining a drug shortage as a decrease in monthly purchased units of at least 33% relative to average units in the six months before the report . Most reports of supply-chain issues were due to manufacturing or shipping problems. However, one-quarter of the U.
S. reports did not speci.