Marsh , M . D ., vice president and executive dean for health sciences at WVU and West Virginia ’ s coronavirus czar . “ When they got in trouble as countries and started having surges , they not only produced less , but they were also using more of those materials for their own population and weren ’ t able to meet some of the supply chain needs of other countries . That is going to be part of our understanding as far as assessing our own vulnerabilities that COVID-19 has exposed to us . That is something we need to change in the future so we are much more self-reliant .”
How Did We Get Here ?
In the U . S ., most of the medications people take are generic , and generic drugs also make up the majority of those in short supply .
“ Why are we in this quandary ? In my mind , the main reason we ’ re here is because generic drugs have become a commodity — they are too cheap ,” says Petros . “ Because they ’ re so cheap , people can ’ t make a lot of money off of them , and you end up with limited
" Approximately 90 % of our generic drugs and about half or more of our brand name drugs are made , at least in part , overseas , and 90 % of the API in the world is made in China right now ."
manufacturers in the world and production is pushed to the place where they can be made the cheapest .”
For example , sodium phosphate is commonly used in hospitals and is currently in short supply . While it only costs pennies to make , there are limited companies that manufacture it .
“ I know it sounds ludicrous to say generic drugs cost too little ,” says Petros . “ Approximately 90 % of prescriptions in the U . S . are for generic drugs , but generic drugs only make up 23 % of our total drug spend in the U . S .”
At one point in time , Mylan Pharmaceuticals in Morgantown , WV , was one
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