This book explores the trends and FDA response to national drug shortages. In recent years, hospitals and health care professionals have increasingly reported nationwide shortages of prescription drugs, including those that are life-saving and life-sustaining. Drug shortages directly threaten public health by preventing patients from accessing medications that are essential to their care. For example, recent shortages of oncology drugs have sparked concerns from health care professionals about how to care for cancer patients that need such medications in order to survive. During shortages, physicians may have to ration their supplies, delay treatments, or use alternative medications that may be less effective for the condition, carry unwanted side effects, or are most costly.