Are hard economic times and a lack of key drugs leading to more drugs being sold through the unauthorized “parallel” market known as the gray market?

The Premiere Healthcare Alliance released a report and analysis on this trend and the results are both chilling and fascinating: the analysis found that some 240 drugs were either in short supply or completely unavailable, and more than 400 generic varieties were on back-order for five or more days at the end of 2010. This trend has continued through the first half of 2011–in fact, the University of Utah Drug Information Service reported a record high of 180 drug shortages from January to July 2011.

The Premier report goes into great detail about the gray market and the existing crisis. A .pdf of the report can be found online here. 

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