Eli CahanThis week’s report that dexamethasone, a commonly used corticosteroid, reduces death rates of COVID-19 by up to one-third was greeted with enthusiasm around the globe.
But it also raised a question: Will there be enough of the medication? So far, doctors are not reporting problems getting dexamethasone for their patients.
And as many news stories have pointed out, dexamethasone is off-patent, cheap, and relatively abundant. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be shortages, says Steven Schondelmeyer, Director of the Pharmaceutical Research in Management and Economics Institute at the University of Minnesota.