LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – For those who get a life-altering diagnosis such as cancer, people seek treatment.
Except some critical drugs are hard to come by.
This has left Nevada doctors adjusting to how they treat patients based on drug availability.
Cancer is a word no one ever wants to hear.
“Once I heard it, it was a big shocker,” Darina Serano said.
Serano is 38 years old and describes herself as a healthy and active person, yet she is battling stage 4 colon cancer.
“It has spread to my liver, my ovaries,” she said.
Serano has been going through treatment for two years.
“I have a husband. I have a family that I love and adore and that I want to be around,” Serano said.
However, because of the ongoing drug shortage, her oncologist at Comprehensive Cancer Centers, Dr. Rupesh Parikh said he had to space out treatments for patients.
“Based on condition, diagnosis, stage, how quickly they need it, and sometimes it does delay,” Dr. Parikh said.
According to the American Cancer Society, 1 out of 10 cancer patients have been impacted by the drug shortage.
The hardest part has been finding substitute drugs which Dr. Parikh said could be a battle with insurance companies.
“The biggest challenge is trying to make the patients understand that it is not us, it is a national problem,” Dr Parikh said.
According to Dr. Parikh the shortage is related to manufacturing issues or sometimes the FDA shutting down plants where the drug is made.
Comprehensive Cancer Centers tell FOX5 a lot of generic drugs have been useful but they are trying to order the drugs ahead of time.
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