From depression medication to life-saving cancer treatments, some Americans are having a hard time finding their prescription medications due to widespread drug shortages stemming mostly from quality problems at manufacturing facilities.

Frustrations are growing nationwide over unfilled prescriptions. Widespread drug shortages are making it harder for many Americans to find their medications. It's getting worse. 

Misty Herman lives in Minnesota and says it's like a full-time job to track down ADHD medication for her three sons. Have you found any hacks? Or is this just you deal on a day by day basis? Day by day basis. Sometimes I won't give some of my kids meds like at three o'clock. 
So I know I have them for the school day if I have to, 

Herman says she's had to switch her kids to different prescriptions based on what's available. It's a daily struggle shared on social media. Whoever or whatever is causing this shortage. Cut it Out, need my medicine. With users posting about how they're unable to pick up prescriptions on time or forced to change their treatment schedules. My seven-year-old does not have his ADHD medication because both of the pharmacies are out of it. The issue ringing in alarm on Capitol Hill. Drug shortities are a significant public health risk of the highest national priority. This cancer doctor telling lawmakers the drug shortage could be a matter of life or death for some patients. Many of my colleagues have been forced to make impossible choices, including to choose which patients will be prioritized, to receive potentially curative therapy. 

According to an American Cancer Society survey, one in ten people being treated today say they've experienced drug shortage in the past year when we talk about a shortage of drugs for cancer treatment that could actually be life or death. Couldn't it? We also don't know the longterm harms because we don't have the data about switching between cancer drugs. We we probably won't know what will happen until a few years from now, you know, patients may forego a chance at a cure. The problem is widespread. One in three US hospitals are severely affected by drug shortages, and by early fall there were 300 and five ongoing drug shortages nationwide, the most in a decade. Why are there shortages of life-saving drugs in this country? The main reason for most of these shortages is a quality problem at the manufacturing facilities. It is across all drug classes, but again, most of these are generic drugs. 

I mean it's just while to think about this happening in the United States of America. If this does happen to someone, if they're struggling to find a medication that they need, what should they do? What could they do so? All over the country today, people are scrambling to get a prescription filled and they're gonna have trouble right. So the first thing experts say is, don't panic. You know, you have to make a plan, talk to your doctor. Maybe your doctor can write a prescription for a different drug that is work. Similarly, you could also ask for a different dosage. Sometimes that works some things are extended release or quick release you can. You can work around that with your doctor, but also. 

The experts say use the portal with your doctor's office. Have you noticed how they want you to sign up? You can really be texting and talking in real time with your doctor's office on this and doctors and doctor's offices know this is happening too. So they're working with patients trying to figure out how to get around it. Last week, the Biden administration said that they were going to use the Defense Production Act to try to ramp up domestic manufacturing of these drugs, so we can longer term figure this out, but it is a real problem. It's a problem that's been worsening for about a decade. We were looking for a prescription for a Max Cylicocyclus or something and we went to three different cvss, but on the 4th one they just happened to have it. So and these mo, you get lucky and these moms and dad say it's a part-time or full-time job just trying to keep your house stocked with the right medicine thanks. Christine, it's good story.