National Drug Shortages: Remedial Executive and Legislative Initiatives

Medication shortages constitute an ongoing threat to patient care across the United States and affect nearly every aspect of health care. National drug shortages have been a recurring challenge of the US health care system but were markedly aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal executive and legislative efforts to bolster the resiliency of the pharmaceutical supply chain have thus far fallen short. This Commentary reviews the leading executive and legislative initiatives proposed during the 118^th Congress and the Biden administration to protect the national drug supply in the hope of avoiding future shortages. It will be up to the new (119th) Congress and presidential administration to take up this issue again and pursue remediation of the nation's drug shortage problem. The health of the nation demands action by policy makers to mitigate drug shortages that give rise to discontinuity of care and thereby to a compromise of the national state of health.