The Federal Trade Commission is seeking information about the role of drug distributors and other companies that buy drugs for U.S. hospitals over shortages of generic drugs such as chemotherapy drugs and antibiotics, the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday. It was announced on .
The freedom of information request by the agency and the Department of Health and Human Services comes after shortages of vital medicines such as chemotherapy last year forced hospitals to ration them to patients.
“For years, Americans have faced severe shortages of critical medicines, from chemotherapy to antibiotics, putting patients at risk,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan.
“Our investigation is seeking information on the factors causing these shortages and is scrutinizing the actions of opaque drug intermediaries.”
The FTC will seek information about drug distributors and hospital purchasing organizations, including their contracting practices, market concentration, and compensation.
Investigating whether these companies are abusing their market power to drive down the price of generic drugs so much that some manufacturers stop producing them without making a profit, resulting in shortages. I plan to.
The FTC and HHS statements did not name the companies.
Cencora, Cardinal Health, and McKesson are major pharmaceutical distributors in the United States, and Vizient, Premier, and HealthTrust are group purchasing organizations for hospitals.
The six companies did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
