Obama Signs an Executive Order to Address Prescription Drug Shortages

Charles Dharapak/AP. President Obama signed the executive order on Monday

President Obama issued an executive order Monday directing the FDA to take measures to reduce drug shortages and drug prices.

The president is taking these actions to respond to a growing drug shortage that has caused prices to rise, said Alan Silverleib in an article for CNN

According to an article by Gardiner Harris for the New York Times, these measures include three things: Increase reporting of potential shortages of drugs; speed reviews of applications to begin or alter production of these drugs; and provide more information to the Justice Department about possible instances of stockpiling of drugs to intentionally raise prices.

The FDA will also be required to increase the total number of staffers dealing with drug shortage issues, said Silverleib.

At least 180 drugs have been declared in short supply, Harris said.

Along with Obama’s order, the administration also released two reports that blame a dysfunctional marketplace for the shortages.

The analyses found that  just five large hospital buying groups buy almost 90 percent of the needed medicines, and only seven companies manufacture the majority of supply. It found that “the economic and technical hurdles to participating in this market have made it exceedingly inflexible,” Harris said.

The analyses also found that nearly half of the shortages followed inspections that found safety and quality problems. This included injectibles with glass shards, metal filings and bacterial contamination, the reports found.

“President Obama, faced with what he described as an ‘increasingly dysfunctional’ Congress, has turned repeatedly in recent weeks to the time-honored, but often controversial executive order to unilaterally make policy,” said Scott Neuman in an article for NPR.

This has included issues such as mortgage relief, jobs for veterans , and student loan payments.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told the press that the administration will continue to use its executive branch authority to pass legislation without congressional assistance. This is in response to the growing frustration the administration has felt with GOP opposition to the president’s $447 billion jobs plan, as well as other policy initiatives, Silverleib said.

“The shortage of prescription drugs drives up costs, leaves consumers vulnerable to price gouging and threatens our health and safety,” Obama said in a written statement. “This is a problem we can’t wait to fix.”