Cancer drug shortage is forcing doctors to decide which patients get treatment

Just six weeks ago, Greg DeStefano began a new chemotherapy combination. The 50-year-old, from Northbrook, Illinois, had recently been diagnosed with his fourth round of cancer and doctors were hopeful the medication would treat the tumors growing in his neck.

Among them are carboplatin, used to treat ovarian and head and neck cancer; azacytidine, which treats a form of leukemia; and dacarbazine, used to treat skin cancer. "We're sort of on life support, whether or not we're going to have enough drugs and we have internally operationalized various ways to prioritize who gets which drugs," Dr. Mark Einstein, a gynecologic oncologist at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, told ABC News."Especially when there are limited or no other alternatives."

Doctors say there are a number of factors behind the nationwide shortage including low profit margins for generic versions of these drugs as well as labor and supply chain issues.

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