(WZZM/AP) -- A drug used to treat a common cancer in children is temporarily in short supply, according to federal regulators.
The shortage of methotrexate is largely blamed on manufacturing and quality control problems that led to the closure of an Ohio plant.
Methotrexate is a preservative-free medication used to treat the most common type of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL.
Hospitals have warned the FDA that treatments for children with ALL could be stalled if new shipments of the drug aren't received within a couple weeks. That could lessen chances of a cure.
Federal regulators say the shortage is likely to ease before many hospitals run out of the drug. But companies that make methotrexate are giving few details about how they will end the shortage.
Medical experts claim several other relatively-inexpensive drugs are also in short supply, because manufacturers are choosing to make more-profitable drugs. The Food and Drug Administration has no power to alter their production.
Local leukemia patients who rely on methotrexate, don't need to worry. A doctor at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital says they have a sufficient supply of the drug until more is released at the end of the month.
WZZM/Associated Press