Hospitals stretch drug, await delivery

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - When her father enters the room, Lily Hedges smiles and calls his name.

At 18 months old, little Lily is relentless.

“Unless you noticed her bald head, you would never know she (has) cancer,” Lily’s mother, Jessica Baldwin, said. “She is incredible.”

Her daughter is battling leukemia. Twice a week Lily’s parents drive from Martinsville to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health for her chemotherapy treatments. But there's a national shortage of the drug doctors say could help cure her form of cancer.

As a result of the shortages, at least 15 people have died since 2010. Now the federal government is stepping in to ease the pain.

“The FDA will allow importation of some methotrexate from Europe,” said James Croop, oncologist at Riley Hospital. “That will be very helpful. It takes some of pressure off, but the problem of the shortage is still present.”

Croup says Riley Hospital has enough supply to last the next two weeks. They are also expecting to receive more of the drug by the end of the month.

Methotrexate is administered by injection. Once opened, the medication expires after 48 hours.
To help maximize use, doctors in the IU Health system are scheduling treatments for patients at certain times of the day. This is to help eliminate discarding unused medication.