Recently, there have been media reports that a box of injectable corticotropin, which is used to treat rare infantile spasms and is only sold for 7.8 yuan, is difficult to find in many hospitals, but it can be sold for 4000 yuan on the "black market". For the shortage of cheap drugs, although relevant departments have successively introduced some measures, due to inadequate implementation, it is like "prescribing a prescription but not administering medicine", resulting in the repeated occurrence of the shortage of cheap drugs.

The shortage of cheap drugs such as injectable corticosteroids is not an isolated case. The reporter interviewed five years ago that due to a shortage of commonly used "fish sperm protein", some hospitals have "stalled" extracorporeal circulation surgeries for heart disease. Until now, this issue still exists. In addition, there are some commonly used and inexpensive medicines in daily life, such as licorice tablets and yeast tablets (maternal and child food), which are difficult to find in hospitals and pharmacies. However, due to the availability of substitutes, these drugs quietly disappeared without causing any waves, but the prices of new drugs have become much higher.

The reason why cheap drugs are out of stock is not difficult to understand, because there is no profit, pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to produce, and logistics companies are unwilling to distribute. In the context of using drugs to support medicine, the cheaper the drugs, the less markup there is, so hospitals and doctors are not motivated to use cheap drugs.

In response to this problem, as early as 2014, eight departments including the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "Opinions on Ensuring the Supply of Commonly Used Low Price Drugs", which put forward clear requirements from various aspects such as production, circulation, price, procurement, and use.

However, the prescription is symptomatic and the therapeutic effect is not significant. For example, establishing a drug production and supply information system that updates, dynamically monitors, and analyzes the entire process of production, circulation, inventory, and use of commonly used low-priced drugs in real time. However, the frequent occurrence of "drug shortages" in low-priced drugs indicates that this "production and supply information system" is not yet perfect. For example, relevant departments should strengthen supervision and management of the production and circulation of low-priced drugs according to their respective responsibilities. The repeated practice of "black market" price gouging of life-saving drugs indicates that supervision has not been fully implemented. In addition, the number of types of low-cost life-saving drugs, the amount of deficit in the production of low-cost drugs by pharmaceutical companies, and how to incentivize drug procurement, supply, and clinical use have not been effectively resolved, indicating that policies still need to be further refined and improved.

The sense of achievement of patients towards healthcare reform should ultimately be reflected in every prescription given by doctors and in the medication used by the public. The prescription for treating the shortage of cheap drugs has been developed, and the key is for relevant departments to timely formulate detailed rules and increase policy implementation. On the one hand, it ensures a reasonable profit margin for low-priced drugs and mobilizes the production enthusiasm of enterprises. On the other hand, it is necessary to accelerate the reform of public hospitals, gradually eliminate the practice of using drugs to supplement medical expenses, and streamline medical prices. Only in this way can pharmaceutical companies produce and supply cheap drugs, doctors recommend patients to use cheap drugs, and the problem of "expensive medical treatment" can be alleviated to a certain extent.