The Economist | Pharmaceutical shortages

"Foscarnet, potassium phosphate, kanamycin sulphate—for healthy people, these names are a meaningless garble. For the sick, the list is a nightmare. In 2004 America had a shortage of 58 drugs. Last year it had 211 and this year 198 so far. As the problem has spread, so too has a sense of panic, with patients lacking essential medicines, doctors fretting over alternatives and hospitals navigating a "grey market" for drugs."

"On September 26th the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a hearing with the hope of answering urgent questions: why the world's biggest pharmaceutical market is failing its customers, and what might be done about it."  See full article

As a student of the non-profit sector, I think that Hansmann might be inclined to identify this as a situation where there is a market failure because the market fails to find a price where a for-profit entity can recover it's cost of operations yet their is a social purpose to its existence.

Perhaps consideration should be given by the for-profit pharmaceutical industry to create a membership based non-profit company to manufacture and distribute these important drugs that due to their low margin status can no longer be developed profitably. This would create goodwill in the industry and fulfill their social mission to develop and provide drugs for the sick.