MCDONOUGH, Ga. — Members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation are asking the Food and Drug Administration why there has been a cancer drug shortage for months.
Its effects are leaving patients with fewer options for treatment.
NBC reports that a huge, manufacturing plant in India shut down, causing a shortage of several drugs that can be used in place of IV chemotherapy.
Patients like James Jones are forced into situations where they can't choose.
"It is the worst decision I ever made," Jones said.
Jones got his treatment through the pump, a device that dispenses chemotherapy drugs into the body at a slow, controlled rate.
"I felt somewhat forced to take the pump," Jones said.
Jones has been fighting rectal cancer for almost a year. Once he finished chemo, he was slated for radiation and then was supposed to take chemo through medication. However, he was hit with another curveball.
"They said they have nationwide shortage on the pill," Jones said. "So, I asked him, 'What would you do you think you would have it?' They said, 'We probably would have it probably in a couple of weeks.' Couple of weeks came and went by, no pill."
Here is a list of cancer drugs affected by this shortage: carboplatin, cisplatin, amifostine, capecitabine, dacarbazine, dexamethasone, docetaxel, fludarabine, fluorouracil, hydrocortisone injection, leucovorin, methotrexate, octreotide, ondansetron, paclitaxel, palifermin, and streptozocin, azacytidine, cytarabine, lutetium lu 177 vipivotide, tetraxetan
Jones needed capecitabine. And because he couldn't get it, the pump was the next best thing. He said he felt its effects immediately.
"It's grueling. It's painful.," Jones said. "So painful, after a while you're hurting and you just want some relief, but that pump—it's no relief."
Plus, the pump made it harder for Jones to enjoy the simple things with his family.
"The wife would like to say, 'Can we go to dinner? Go eat? Or do something?' And I'd be 'I'm sorry, I can't go,' because the intervals are too much," Jones said.
Jones had to wear the pump at home, seven days a week.
"Maybe the pill would have been a little better," Jones said. "I was told it would have been a little more mild, the effects."
The Cancer Center says some patients find their symptoms are less severe with the pill. And though the FDA said it's working on solutions, Jones wants them and Georgia Lawmakers to take it a step further to prevent anyone else from going through the pain that he did.
"Create a team designated specifically for this purpose," Jones said.
Jones recently finished the pump treatment. And though he's still dealing with the residual symptoms, he's got great support through his family and his faith.