New report suggests 'panic buying' of medications by patients and providers caused drug shortages
Fox News
In a new report, experts from the Milken Center for Public Health suggested that drug shortages in late 2022 stemmed from hospitals and households “panic-buying" medications.
"During COVID, we were faced with a unique situation — a pandemic that we hadn't been faced with as a society for hundreds of years — and it did expose some fragilities," said report co-author Sarah Wells Kocsis, director of the Milken Center for Public Health, during an interview with Fox News Digital. "Social media and news media fueled a frenzy around rising cases and deaths." "I think it's very easy to immediately assume that the supply chain was broken." "The pandemic highlighted weak links in public health and medical supply chain logistics." Melissa Rudy is health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital.
The convergence of COVID, flu and RSV led to a spike in demand for medications, Milken experts said.
Critically endangered whale seen off California coast: 'Every sighting is incredibly valuable to us'
In a rare sighting recently, the endangered North Pacific right whale was spotted off the coast of California by a marine wildlife team near Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.