health

Scarce supply of cancer meds

Physicians at the National Cancer Institute are forced to administer less effective treatments as common drugs run out.

LA PRENSA

SHORTFALL: A shortage of medications threatens to hamstring the Oncology Institute’s ability to treat thousands of new patients.1137666

Medical attention at the National Cancer Institute this year has been characterized by a near chronic lack of crucial medications for common cancer treatments. Drugs used for chemotherapy and bone cancer treatments, for example, have been known to disappear for weeks on end at the institution’s pharmacy.

Alicia Luaces, president of the Juan B. Pérez National Association of Chemotherapy Patients, indicated that so far this month, there were scarce supplies of Placlitxel, Adriamycin, Bleamificina, and Ritucimad, all used in chemotherapy. Meanwhile, a shortage of zoledronic acid to treat bone cancer was also reported several weeks ago.

Luaces blames state bureaucracy for the shortage of medicine, citing the purchase process as long and complicated. Jorge Lasso de la Vega, director of the institute, said that medical products’ arrival to the pharmacy is often delayed by the country’s cumbersome customs process once the packages arrive in Panama.

Oncologist Fernando Cebamanos explained that the shortage poses a threat to his patients’ lives, because they either don’t receive the treatment they need or are forced to settle for a less effective alternative, if one exists. “When we prescribe a curative treatment, and it is not administered regularly or the exact dosage is not taken, it alters the possibility of a cure,” he said.

According Luaces and Cebamanos, the lack of a drug is not always associated with its cost or how long it takes to be prescribed, as, in some cases, it is the cheapest or most common medication that is found to be low in stock.

Lasso de la Vega admitted that, despite concerted efforts, there is always a shortage of three or four medications. He commented, however, that the major crisis is behind them, and that next year, he expects to correct this problem by making medication purchases on an annual basis.

To achieve this, officials plan to allocate $8.5 million of the institute’s 2009 budget, a figure based on this year’s expenditure of $8.6 million.

The institute receives some 3,500 new cancer cases annually, according to records.