The New York Times (2/14, Jewett ) reports, “The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services said on Wednesday that they would examine the causes of generic drug shortages and the practices of ‘powerful middlemen’ that are involved in the supply chain.” The investigation “is aimed at the group purchasing organizations and drug distributors that have been in the spotlight in recent months as drug shortages reached a 10-year peak.” FTC and HHS “want to examine the companies’ influence on how the drugs are sold to hospitals and other health facilities, assessing whether the middlemen put pressure on pricing and manufacturing that led to breakdowns.”
Reuters (2/14, Leo) reports, “The FTC will seek information about drug distributors and hospital purchasing groups and their contracting practices, market concentration and compensation.” The agency “will examine if these companies have misused their market power to push down prices of generic drugs so much that some manufacturers cannot profit and have stopped production, in turn causing the shortages.”
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— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)