Laura Bray calls herself "Chief Change Maker." It's her mission and her heart.
"Just this week, we've helped dozens and dozens of patients get access to life-saving medicine. And last year, our work equated to more than 600,000 treatments being accessed," said Bray.
Bray founded Angels for Change, a patient advocacy nonprofit committed to ending drug shortages after her own child's battle with pediatric cancer.
"The fear and helplessness I felt when the pharmaceutical supply chain didn't have, you know, give us access to the things she needed to survive is really what drives our mission, making sure we have advocacy, but a more resilient supply chain. So no patient gets left behind again," said Bray.
Bray said there are more than 320 drug shortages, the highest in nearly 10 years.
So, what's the catalyst? Bray said there are four main causes of drug shortages.
Price, inexpensive medicines tend to go short more often; quality assurance; geographic centrifugation, which she said just means a lot of our medicines are made in the same place in the world; and lastly, complicated production.
"When you put all those things together, you've got a lot of opportunity for error, and we just don't have enough redundancies in the supply chain. I like to equate it to like our food supply chain. Right, we have extra food in case we need to in a stockpile. We also have a global supply chain where we know where food is and how much it's going to be, get, you know, yielded. And we also have farmers that we help and support here in the U.S. So we know how much we have here, and we still make sure it's safe and effective. But we've got a lot of redundancies in that supply chain. And our food supply chain has been able to withstand some of these pressures better. But I think our life-saving medicines, our pharmaceuticals are just as important as the food that we eat," explained Bray.
ABC Action News has previously covered a growing shortage of Adderall and Ozempic but Bray said there's also an Albuterol shortage, Amoxicillin, Penicillin and five chemotherapy drugs.
"Everything that happened and formula is happening every day here; the big difference is formula caused outrage. And that outrage caused change, quick and swift change. And this has just been kind of hidden for about 25 years," said Bray.
Bray recently spent time in Washington, D.C., advocating for change.
"We have been working both on Capitol Hill, working with members of Congress, who are looking to make change in this area. And we're actually working with members of the White House who are also looking to make change. And I am very grateful for anyone in any leadership position who is asking these questions and being willing to have the resolve to fix them," said Bray. "But this one's possible to solve. It is not unknowable. And we can do it. We've done it with other supply chains. So, you know, I'm very thankful that we can be the voice of the patient. And I'm very thankful that we can be there to help solve this. But most importantly, I say, keep asking the questions and have that resolve."
Bray said if you find out a medication you need is in short supply, have a conversation with your physician about possible alternatives. Angels for Changecan also help you navigate the supply chain; they are actively working with hospitals and pharmacies to help.
"When my child had to figure out what it meant that she wasn't going to get her drug and contemplate whether that meant life or death, you know, consequences. That is a trauma that can never be taken away, and it's completely unjust. So I would like to say we need to have that sense of urgency. No patient should be faced with that. But really, no doctor should either. This should not be the state of our healthcare supply chain. Physicians should have the tools they need readily available to save our lives. And we deserve those tools to have our lives saved," said Bray.
