Oncology Drug Shortages: Impacts, Policy Reforms, and Advocacy Imperatives.

Abstract

Oncology drug shortages have reached unprecedented levels and have had a substantial impact on the treatment of cancer patients, which can include medication rationing, delayed treatments, and inferior therapeutic substitutions. This manuscript outlines systemic drivers of supply chain vulnerabilities that lead to drug shortages, presents medicines supply chain data analyses of ongoing shortages, and proposes actionable policy reforms for advocacy to address patient needs and build resilience and sustainable change in the pharmaceutical supply chain.