Cancer Drug Shortages Force Doctors to Ration Vital Therapies

Two of the most widely used cancer drugs are in short supply amid one of the worst chemotherapy shortages in decades, forcing clinics across the US to ration the lifesaving medicines.

Centers are altering treatment regimens, restricting the therapies to the cases most likely to be cured or sending patients to hospitals with greater access to the drugs.

“We have changed regimens for hundreds of patients so far because we can’t get the drugs,” said Lucio Gordan, president and managing physician of Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, which operates 90 clinics across the state. “In 21 years in ...