How rock-bottom prices drive shortages of generic drugs used in hospitals
Hospitals rely on scores of generic drugs given by injection. But these workhorses are often in short supply. Cheap prices have led to factory closures that leave the supply chain vulnerable.
Steven Coventry spent 20 years at the Akorn pharmaceutical factory in Decatur, Ill., and worked his way up to operations manager.
The plant closed abruptly in February 2023, when the company shut down its four manufacturing facilities. In Decatur, Akorn laid off 400 employees.
But Coventry went back to work at the Decatur plant last summer because new owners hired him to essentially resume his old job and bring it back to life.
It was a surreal scene.
"Coffee mugs were left on tabletops, personal items," he said. "It was kind of like a ghost town and a little sad to go through and see, you know, people's lives just basically upended."
Coventry says the
