The impact of oncology drug shortages on patient welfare

Oncology drug shortages have raised specific alarm because of their increased frequency in recent years and because in many case the drugs affected by shortages have few close substitutes, necessitating suboptimal treatment redesigns with potentially life-threatening consequences (Mello et al. 2005; Jensen et al. 2010; GAO 2010). In this study, we quantify the impact of oncology drug shortages on patient welfare. Combining data from the University of Utah Drug Information Service on drug shortages with Medicare-linked claims data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program for seven cancer types, we study how oncology drug shortages affect treatment patterns, health outcomes and health care spending.