​

Physicians Against Drug Shortages (PADS) is a grassroots patient advocacy group  whose goal is to end the chronic, unprecedented generic drug shortages by restoring integrity and market competition to the broken generic prescription drug and hospital group purchasing industries.  Most of our members are anesthesiologists and critical care specialists who are outraged that they can no longer obtain reliable supplies of the drugs they need to properly treat their patients. As a result of these shortages, millions of patients are suffering needlessly, and in many cases dying.  Most of the drugs in short  supply are sterile injectable chemotherapies and anesthetics administered in hospitals, outpatient facilities and clinics. 

These massive shortages are simply unacceptable in what is supposed to be a free market economy. To end this crisis, which was entirely preventable, we believe it is essential to address the underlying cause, not the symptoms. Having thoroughly examined this issue, we’re convinced that the anticompetitive contracting practices, kickbacks, market manipulation and other abuses of giant hospital group purchasing organizations (GPOs) are the root cause. 

​Unfortunately, most of what has been written about the causes of this public health emergency reflects a lack of understanding by the media, the healthcare community, and policymakers about how these drugs are manufactured, distributed and purchased in the U. S. healthcare supply chain.

By making our case in the mainstream and social media, including this website, we're working to  mobilize public support to prevail on Congress to end the pernicious practices that have given rise to this public health emergency. We believe our efforts are starting to bear fruit. 

Since the publication of our New York Times op-ed of September 3, 2013, "How a Cabal Keeps Generics Scarce," the Food and Drug Administration, which for years avoided referring publicly to GPOs in connection with the shortages, has acknowledged their key role. And in its inaugural report on drug shortages released February 10, 2014, the GAO cited GPOs as a "potential underlying cause" of the shortages.

PADS traces its origins to conversations in early 2012 between financial journalist Phil Zweig, whose interest in anticompetitive GPO practices dates back to 1997, and Joel Zivot MD, chief of cardiothoracic intensive care at Emory University. Over the next several months, Dr. Zivot became increasingly skeptical of the official explanation that the causes were "complex and multifactorial." Matters came to a head  at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in Washington, D. C. At a panel discussion on drug shortages, he publicly challenged this explanation, asserting that the GPO industry had undermined the generic injectable marketplace. Several colleagues rushed up to him after the meeting seeking more information. This led to the formation of PADS in December 2012.

Full disclosure: PADS members have no conflicts of interest and no vested financial interest in this issue. PADS receives no outside funding. We are all working on this project pro bono and are covering our expenses out of our own pockets. 

​We welcome new members and friends who would like to work with us to stop the shortages.

Mitchell Goldstein MD

Chairman
Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Neonatology
Loma Linda University Children's Hospital
Loma Linda, CA​

Phillip L. Zweig MBA

Executive Director/Co-founder

New York, NY

Co-chairs:

Michelle Abe DO

Family Medicine

Martinsburg, WV

Sean Adams MD

Anesthesiologist

Naperville, IL

​Curtis Baysinger MD

Associate Professor 

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Nashville, TN

Rebekah Bernard MD
Family Medicine
Gulf Coast Direct Primary Care
Fort Myers, FL

Frederick C. Blum MD

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Morgantown, WV

John G. Brock-Utne MD, PhD
Professor of Anesthesia, Emeritus
Stanford University Medical Center
Department of Anesthesiology, Peri-operative & Pain Medicine
Stanford, CA 

James W. Bush MD

Ophthalmologist

Lebanon, PA

Ryan Canavan BS

VP, Business Development

Medac Pharma

Atlanta, GA

​Margaret (Meg) Clapp R.Ph M.Div

Hospital Pharmacy Consultant

Former chief of pharmacy, Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, MA

Ezio Cutarelli PharmD

Community Hospital Staff Pharmacist

Cleveland, OH 

Paul Danziger Esq.

Partner, Danziger & DeLlano LP

Executive producer & screenwriter, PUNCTURE, the Movie

Houston, TX

Daniel C. DeMarco MD

Gastroenterologist

Dallas, TX

Susan A. Derry MD

Emergency Medicine

Olympia, WA

Christine Dewey MD

Pediatrician

All About Children Pediatrics

Eden Prairie, MN

Eric Edwards MD PhD

VP, Innovation, Research & Development

Kaleo Pharmaceuticals

Richmond, VA

James E. Elbaor MD

Orthopedist

Dallas, TX

Mark Fesen MD

Oncologist

Central Care Cancer Center

Wichita, KS 

Sean Flynn PhD

Candidate for U. S. Congress 

Upland, CA

William Frame MD

Anesthesiologist

Decatur, IL

Holly Fritch MD
Dermatologist
Leawood, KS

​Rosemary Gibson MS

Senior Advisor

The Hastings Center

Washington, D. C. 

Mark S. Godec MD

Neurologist

Falls Church, VA

Clare Gray MD

Internal Medicine

Hickory, NC

George Gruhn BS

Businessman

Nashville, TN

Matt Hahn MD

Family Physician

River Bend Family Medicine

Hancock, MD

Lawrence S. Halperin MD

Orthopedist

Orlando, FL

Jessica Hardesty MD
OB/GYN
Washington, DC

George G. Hefner MD

Anesthesiologist/Pain Medicine

Lake Forest, IL

Amy Faith Ho MD

Resident in Emergency Medicine

University of Chicago Medicine

Chicago, IL

Leah Houston MD

Primary Care Physician

HoustonHealth

New York, NY

Ronald P. Jordan RPh 
Dean
Chapman University School of Pharmacy
Irvine, CA 

Ayal M. Kaynan MD

Chief, Section of Urology

Morristown Medical Center

Morristown, NJ

Charles Kim MD

Anesthesiologist

Naperville, IL 

W. Andrew Kofke MD MBA

Professor of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

Joanna Kolodney MD

Assistant Professor

Hematology/Oncology

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Morgantown, WV

Tim E. Little MD

Gastroenterologist

Shoreline, WA

Mark Lopatin MD

Rheumatologist

Willow Grove, PA

Dan Lorenzo MD

Pain Management Anesthesiologist

Lebanon, PA

Philip Anthony Mandato, Jr. DO
Anesthesiologist 

Philadelphia area, PA

Mollyann March MD

Anesthesiologist

Bethesda, MD

Sharon Moon MS (Candidate)

Healthcare Quality and Risk Manager Professional

Philadelphia, PA 

Narayanachar S.  Murali MD  

Gastroenterologist

Orangeburg, SC

William J. Murphy PhD 

Associate Professor, Humanities & Social Sciences

New England Institute of Technology

East Greenwich, RI 

Franklin D. Nash MD, R.I.P
Principal

Center for Scientific Analysis of Policy, LLC
Indianapolis, IN

Chonn Ng MD

Hospitalist

Indiana Internal Medicine Consultant

Indianapolis, IN

Richard O'Flynn, MD
Anesthesiologist 
Philadelphia, PA

Chantel O’Shea DO
Emergency Medicine 
Independent Contractor/Northwell Health and Catholic Health Services
Moderator of Physicians for Patient Protection
Smithtown, NY 

Timothy Parker MD

Dermatologic Surgeon

Overland Park, KS

Harry G. Parr DO, MBA

Anesthesiologist 

Royal Oaks,  MI

William "Bill" Price Esq.

Former United States Attorney, Western District of Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, OK

Michael A. Rie MD

Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

University of Kentucky Medical Center

Lexington, KY

Melissa Robinson DO

Psychiatrist

Marion, VA

Scott T. Roethle MD

Anesthesiologist

Leawood, KS

Christine L. Saba  PharmD MD

Pediatrician

Rockville, MD

Amar Setty MD

Anesthesiologist

Baltimore, MD

Rosy Singh MD

Radiologist

Baltimore, MD

Tomasz "Tommy" Stryjewski MD

Resident Physician

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, MA

Donna-Ann Thomas MD

Attending Physician

Anesthesiology/Pain Management

Yale-New Haven Hospital

New Haven, CT​

​Mahesh Vaidyanathan MD MBA

Instructor in Anesthesiology

Feinberg School of Medicine

Northwestern University

Chicago, IL

Robert Villare MD

Chief of Surgical Specialties

Lebanon, VA Medical Center

Lebanon, PA

James M. West MD

Director of Transplant Anesthesia

Medical Anesthesia Group

Memphis, TN

Lois Wetmore  DVM
Veterinarian Anesthesiologist
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
Tufts University
Boston, MA

Elizabeth Wilson MD
OB/GYN
Boone Hospital
Columbia, Missouri

Vicki Wooll MD MPH

Family Medicine

Eagle, ID

Marlene J. Wust-Smith MD
Pediatrics
McKean, Potter Counties, PA

Wendy Zens RN

Nurse-Manager (Retired)

Harvard Vanguard Health Associates

Boston, MA

Joel Zivot MD

Chief of Cardio-thoracic Intensive Care

Emory University Medical Center

Atlanta, GA

Marcy Zwelling MD

Emergency Medicine

Los Alamitos, CA

COALITION PARTNERS

​Disclaimer: PADS does not necessarily agree with  every position our coalition partners take on other healthcare issues. 

Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

www.aapsonline.org

Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)

https://amac.us

Physicians For Reform

https://www.physiciansforreform.org

NoMiddlemen.org (watch video)

Practicing Physicians of America

www.http://practicingphysician.org

​

For at least a quarter century, long after he retired and almost up until the day he died in April 2013 at age 85, Bill fought valiantly to expose and reform the GPO system. He was a courtly, generous, and good-humored man whose favorite literary character was Cyrano de Bergerac. Like Cyrano, Bill refused to bend on matters of principle: "...he lives without compromise, free in both his thoughts and his acts."

​Cyrano de Bergerac Act V, Scene II​​

                                                       In Memoriam

Who We Are

​Why We Organized PADS

Our Mission