Patients Say FDA Lets Big Pharma Create Artificial Drug Shortages

Two dozen people suffering from life-threatening Fabry disease, a rare condition caused by deficiencies in an enzyme needed to metabolize lipids, say the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services give drug manufacturers carte blanche to create drug shortages that deny them the medicine that keeps them alive, reports Courthouse News. Twenty-five people sued the agencies in Federal Court on constitutional claims. Most of the plaintiffs say they are being denied interstate access to Fabrazyme, a drug that treats Fabry disease, due to a shortage created by Genzyme, the drug’s manufacturer, but not a party to the case. They seek an injunction ordering the government to take the enforcement actions and they want the drug companies to disgorge profits unjustly created by drug shortages and fined for creating shortages.