The phone call comes on a Tuesday afternoon. The hospital pharmacy can’t guarantee they’ll have your child’s chemotherapy drugs ready for Friday’s appointment. The medicine that’s supposed to help save your child’s life might simply not be there when you need it most.
This nightmare scenario is happening to families across the country. Over 90% of U.S. hospital systems are currently facing shortages of essential chemotherapy drugs, and one in 10 cancer patients report being directly impacted by these shortages.
When Essential Drugs Disappear
Two drugs at the centre of the current crisis are Carboplatin and Methotrexate – names that might sound like medical jargon but represent lifelines for children fighting cancer. Carboplatin is crucial for treating brain tumours and other solid cancers in children, whilst Methotrexate is a cornerstone treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, the most common childhood cancer.
These aren’t experimental medications or last-resort treatments. They’re the workhorses of paediatric oncology, tried-and-tested drugs that doctors have relied on for decades. When they’re not available, treatment delays and substitutions become necessary, disrupting carefully planned protocols designed to maximise children’s chances of survival.
The emotional toll on families is immense. Parents report experiencing panic attacks, sleep disturbances and overwhelming anxiety when faced with treatment uncertainties. The fear isn’t just about the cancer diagnosis anymore – it’s about whether the hospital will have the medicines their child needs. Mothers across the country are turning their pain into action, fighting for better systems that protect their children.
A Partnership That Plans Ahead
Rather than waiting for shortages to become crises, a patient advocacy organisation called Angels for Change is taking a different approach. Through their Project PROTECT initiative, they’re funding pharmaceutical production before medicines run out, creating a safety net for vulnerable patients.
‘Through Project PROTECT, we’re proactively safeguarding patients from drug shortages before they become crises,’ said Laura Bray, Founder and Chief Change Maker of Angels for Change. This year, they’ve partnered with an unlikely ally – Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, better known for disrupting medication pricing than manufacturing.
The collaboration will focus on fast-tracking production of both Carboplatin and Methotrexate through a specialised manufacturing facility that meets strict FDA safety standards. The two organisations have united around a shared mission to prevent the kind of shortages that leave families scrambling.
Why a Drug Price Disruptor Joined the Fight
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company made headlines for selling generic medications at transparent, low prices, cutting out the middlemen who typically inflate costs. Their mission extends beyond affordability – they’re also tackling the supply side of the problem.
‘These medications are essential to cancer care,’ said Alex Oshmyansky, Founder & CEO of Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. ‘We are proud to work alongside Angels for Change to help ensure they remain available for every patient who needs them.’
The company operates its own manufacturing facility specifically designed to address drugs on the FDA Drug Shortages list. By controlling the entire process from production to patient delivery, they can respond more quickly when shortages threaten patient care. Technology and fresh approaches are making life-saving healthcare more accessible in ways that seemed impossible just a few years ago.
Why Medicines Vanish in the First Place
Drug shortages aren’t caused by a single villain – they’re the result of a fragile system with multiple weak points. Manufacturing problems, supply chain disruptions and quality control issues at production facilities can all trigger shortages. For paediatric cancer drugs, the problem is compounded by low profit margins, making them less attractive for pharmaceutical companies to prioritise.
The complexity becomes personal when it’s your child who needs the treatment. Families shouldn’t have to add ‘Will the pharmacy have my child’s medicine?’ to their list of cancer-related worries, yet 93% of paediatric oncology centres have faced insufficient carboplatin supplies, whilst 75% have been affected by methotrexate shortages.
What This Means for Real Families
Behind each percentage point are children whose treatment plans get disrupted and parents who can’t sleep at night. When 45% of affected patients experience treatment delays, some lasting over a month, it’s not just an inconvenience – it’s a threat to carefully calibrated treatment protocols.
Paediatric oncology has achieved remarkable progress over recent decades, with survival rates for many childhood cancers now exceeding 80%. These improvements depend on precise treatment timing and drug combinations. When essential medicines aren’t available, that progress is at risk. Families across Canada are uniting to demand better funding for childhood cancer research, recognising that adequate resources are essential for progress.
For families already navigating the overwhelming world of childhood cancer treatment, drug shortages add another layer of uncertainty to an already terrifying experience. Real conversations about health challenges are breaking down barriers and helping families feel less alone in their struggles.
The partnership between Angels for Change and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company represents hope that this particular source of anxiety might become less common. Project PROTECT offers something every parent with a sick child desperately wants: the assurance that when their child needs life-saving treatment, it will be there.
