Update: Following public outcry, and a petition, Teva Pharmaceuticals has announced they will put vincristine back into production. This comes after a nationwide shortage of the chemotherapy drug.
You can read their official statement here.
Original story:
A company took a life-saving cancer drug out of production, and now there's a nationwide shortage.
12-year-old Gus Stranch is a student at Page Middle School. He recently finished his final round of vincristine which treats cancers like Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Stranch said, "After completing treatment, I'm able to live a normal life again. I can do lacrosse, and I made the JV team this year."
On Gus' last day of treatment, his mom, Patty Daniel, found out that one company quit making the drug.
Daniel said, "It's absolutely unacceptable. These are not widgets. These are not things that we are manufacturing. This is life-saving chemotherapy for children."
Teva Pharmaceuticals is one of two drug manufacturers that make vincristine. They stopped producing it due to business reasons:
Stranch said, "I think they should do whatever they can to crank out more."
Gus is the perfect example that the drug can work.
Stranch said, "It's so much better than all the others, and the fact that it's one of the better ones, it's extremely important. It's used for many different things, and yet they still stop production just because they're not making enough money or something like that? That's just stupid."
Dr. Debra Friedman said folks at Vanderbilt anticipated the shortage, and ordered an abundance of the drug. The shortage isn't currently affecting patients at Vanderbilt.
Friedman said, "The reason it works itself out is that we're very proactive, and we think about it in advance, so we're not scrambling once we have a shortage."
Now, Pfizer is the sole producer and they're racing to keep up.
Friedman said, "By early January manufacturing should be increased, and then we'll have more supply."
If the shortage continues, Dr. Friedman said they will be forced to prioritize who gets the drug.
Daniel said, "To put Dr. Friedman and the other doctors and nurses here in the position of having to make decisions about vincristine is, in my opinion, unconscionable!"
A petition circulating has gained more than 200,000 signatures from across the country.
