Dr. Jennifer Miller has been an author of dozens of studies about rare endocrine diseases over the last two decades. Hundreds of patients fly to Gaine

Persistent shortage of growth hormone frustrates parents and clinicians

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2024-04-18 16:00:11

Dr. Jennifer Miller has been an author of dozens of studies about rare endocrine diseases over the last two decades. Hundreds of patients fly to Gainesville, Fla., from all over the U.S. to see her for treatment.

But now, her office is inundated with faxes, emails, texts and phone calls that have little to do with her life's work. Miller, a professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Florida's College of Medicine, has research papers in her inbox that just need a few finishing touches before publication in medical journals. She doesn't have time for them.

A shortage of growth hormone — as well as how insurance companies are handling the problem — has consumed nearly every spare minute she has had for the last six months.

Norditropin, the growth hormone prescribed most often, went into shortage in the fall of 2022. It's still scarce a year and a half later, despite assurances from Novo Nordisk, maker of the drug, that supplies would stabilize in 2024. As people try to switch to other brands, a ripple effect has been causing shortages of those products too.