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Brenda Carr on her daughter Rowan’s cancer treatment and concerns she and other cancer patients may not get the drugs they need because of shortages...
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It's the epidemic you may not have heard about nearly 300 prescription drugs are currently in short supply or unavailable entirely across the country and many.
-- life -- so what if you're the mother of a small child with cancer and -- one day the doctor tells you the key drug being used to treat her.
May be -- available in the just a matter of weeks well that's what's happening to my next guest joining me and rent a car whose four year old daughter Rowan has leukemia welcome to the show great to have you here Brenda.
Thank you so much for having me -- tell the story of your daughter how was she diagnosed in -- she doing now.
Certainly she would.
Diagnostic and August of 2010.
And it started off just with fever no other symptoms.
And it just kind of knocked her out -- -- is very very well -- deck and tired.
And my husband Tucker and urgent care and -- we were admitted that day because they had found the leukemia in herb circulating in her blood how.
And what kind of treatment -- this suggest.
Basically -- -- you have to go through a test of the blood in the bone marrow to see what type of the key -- you have.
And -- she was diagnosed with a -- Al.
Andrew that they were putting her on a standard protocol.
And that's dinner protocol included varying types of chemotherapy at different times of the product of her treatment path and then also I deem.
And methotrexate in her -- as well as interest.
Final floated.
You know you are really articulate about this and I guess we should tell you -- thinking when you worked for a pharmaceutical company at one point right.
I I have worked actually in pharmaceuticals as well as medical device companies soon get things this is not a mystery you what's going on.
But you found out along the way that some of these drugs were in short supply the company's just weren't making enough of these drugs.
What was your reaction yet.
-- Think the biggest reaction that I had was when I found out that the one mean manufacture had been shut down.
Voluntarily because of issues that the FDA found carrying its initial.
Inspection they had done.
And because -- shut down to take care of these problems which is great.
It left a lot of -- -- you know the amount of methotrexate did -- very rapidly.
And the other manufacturers weren't able to step up the peace in order to make up the difference.
So the good news the FDA approved new supplier for the drug that's good news but the reality look -- they're all kinds of drugs out there you can't even more drugs.
As your daughter was being treated there -- in short supply -- no supply.
What's.
Out there this is the US -- -- what I mean it seems to me that if we needed drug it.
Should be in this country.
I I completely agree with you and when I was looking through the -- actually if about a month before hand.
We were having a difficult time trying to get an anti nausea medicine just didn't make her comfortable during her -- And it found out that it was on the list and that was when I started looking through and seeing.
Just how many other medications were on there not just further ayello treatment but for.
And you know other types of cancer treatment and even just you know -- that are.
Illness says that people may have that they need medications to you know improve quality of life and extend their life expectancy.
And I I was very frightening to see that.
You know over the years it's gone from maybe you know ten or fifteen drugs that are on this -- -- now almost 300 and it seems to get worse every month.
Well -- the government announces they think they've got enough methotrexate which is good news but the reality is -- lot to -- -- -- lots of other drugs that look.
Big drug companies don't want to make biggest.
They're not -- profitable really.
So you know the problem with those drugs but also sourcing them.
The problems just at continue to multiply branded EU.
-- -- -- -- -- -- doing great she's in remission and we -- in the final stages of treatment.
And crossing our fingers everything continues this way we will be done -- October of this year.
Good luck to you good luck to -- thanks for coming on and thinking helping us cover this very important story we really appreciate your time.
Well I appreciate your time this is definitely an important story.
