Chemo drug shortages hit cancer treatment centers across Pittsburgh region – By Julia Maruca (Trib Live) / June 26, 2023
The chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and carboplatin have become difficult for hospital systems across the country to access in recent months, disrupting cancer treatments and leading health care providers and patients to worry about the future.
According to the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, platinum drug shortages, including cisplatin and carboplatin, were first reported to the Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 10. In December 2022, the FDA temporarily shut down platinum drug shipments for safety reasons from a factory in India, the primary supplier
The FDA announced in June that it was collaborating with Qilu Pharmaceutical Co. in China and pharmaceutical company Apotex in Canada to increase the availability of the drugs.
For cancer treatment centers across the U.S., including those in Pittsburgh, the move to work with Qilu couldn’t have come at a better time.
