The Federal Trade Commission, which thinks "lack of competition and contracting practices…may be contributing to drug shortages," is soliciting public comments on that subject. But when it comes to opioid pain relievers, the problem is not a lack of competition between manufacturers, wholesalers, or distributors. Shortages of these safe and effective analgesics are instead a result of tightened production quotas imposed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with a recently revealed injunction against pharmacies that was part of the National Opioids Settlement.
That $26 billion settlement resolved myriad government-backed lawsuits alleging that reckless distribution of these medications produced the ongoing "opioid crisis" of escalating drug-related deaths. The DEA's steadily stricter production limits are based on the same premise. But that premise is fundamentally mistaken.
