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WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats alike want to stop drug shortages from happening. The vexing question is how.

The White House and a whole host of government agencies oversee programs aimed at mitigating drug shortages, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Commerce.

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The White House also has a new task force that is supposed to put together recommendations for fighting drug shortages, one it formed early this year in response to news of the worsening drug shortage crisis as the country began running out of an increasing number of chemotherapies. It has met with representatives from hospitals, drugmakers, pharmacies, and others in the drug supply chain to brainstorm solutions, but it’s not clear what it has in mind or when it will make those recommendations.

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