Drug Shortages Hit Canada, India
The Globe and Mail reports that Canada is in the midst of a serious shortage of the bladder cancer drug, bacillus Calmette-Guérin strain tice (BGC). The shortage was caused by manufacturing issues that occurred at manufacturing plants operated by two different pharma companies. Without BCG to control symptoms, patients could be facing surgery to remove their bladders, which could result in other serious complications. To ration the supply, doctors could temporarily treat patients using one-third of a regular dose.
In addition to Canada, India is facing a shortage of medications to treat AIDS/HIV because of payment delays to manufacturers and other procurement issues. Some of these medications include tenofovir-lamivudine, nevirapine, and lopinavir-ritonavir. In order to prevent shortage, the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) would need to supply roughly six million fixed dose combination tablets of tenofovir-300mg and lamivudine-300mg to avoid a shortage.
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