In the US, chronic drug shortages are the business model

The United States has a decades-long problem of shortages for affordable medicines that treat serious diseases, including cancer and diabetes. But hundreds of plants in China and India are ready to supply low-cost drugs to the American market, just as they do for hospitals across Asia and the world.

Drug companies, hospitals, and clinics in the US are highly incentivized to run shortages of the least expensive medicines, as patients have no choice but to switch to more costly treatments. And regulators and inspectors for the Food and Drug Administration are highly recruited by drug companies, which reduces how many inspectors are available, and how many foreign plants can be inspected and approved. The FDA is currently short of hundreds of plant inspectors, most acutely so in Asia, which is where all the low-cost drugs are made.

Resources and links:

Drug shortages hit record high, pharmacists warn
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/....drug-shortages-hit-r

Cancer drug shortage is forcing doctors to decide which patients get treatment
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/....cancer-drug-shortage

Drug shortage can put patients' lives at risk, experts warn
https://abcnews.go.com/Politic....s/drug-shortage-put-

Drug shortages reach record high in US
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/12..../health/drug-shortag

As drug shortages reach record highs, regulators weigh next steps
https://www.biopharmadive.com/....news/drug-shortages-

Nearly 2,000 drug plants are overdue for FDA checks after COVID delays, AP finds
https://www.pressherald.com/20....24/09/05/nearly-2000

The revolving door swings again as Lupin hires an FDA official who oversaw problems at a key plant
https://www.statnews.com/pharm....alot/2022/04/28/fda-

FDA's revolving door: Companies often hire agency staffers who managed their successful drug reviews
https://www.science.org/conten....t/article/fda-s-revo

US drug shortages reach all-time high: Cancer and diabetes patients waiting 'deadly' amount of time for lifesaving drugs
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/he....alth/article-1329804

Closing scene, Shenzhen River, Guangdong province