The Federal Trade Commission is launching a probe into the extent to which group purchasing organizations and wholesalers may contribute to ongoing shortages of key medicines at hospitals and other facilities across the country.
The agency will explore how these companies — which are responsible for brokering and distributing countless medicines — might misuse their market power to influence pricing and availability. Three group purchasing organizations, or GPOs, buy drugs on behalf of most hospitals in the U.S., while three leading wholesalers supply about 90% of medicines to hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes, among others.
The move comes amid growing anxiety over shortages of numerous medicines — from chemotherapies to antibiotics — in recent years. At times, generic drugmakers have blamed falling prices and dwindling profits for their decisions to walk away from some markets. The FTC probe reflects concern that GPOs and wholesalers are causing this chain reaction that, ultimately, endangers patients.