A Milwaukee football coach has become the latest victim of the devastating drug shortage crisis that threatens the lives of patients with diabetes, cancer and deadly infections.
Jeff Bolle, 60, a high school counselor and football coach, succumbed to bile duct cancer last December after doctors ran out of his vital chemotherapy drug, cisplatin.
Bolle underwent surgery and four rounds of chemotherapy to remove a grapefruit-sized tumor in the bile duct next to the liver.
Doctors said he needed two more to kill all the remaining cancer cells, but they told Bolle that the cancer center where he was treated did not have the drug.
Instead, he languished for months without medications to slow the cancer.
Jeff Bolle, pictured left with his wife Connie, died six months after doctors told him his cancer-slowing drug cisplatin was unavailable due to an ongoing shortage. He died that same year without having received the two remaining chemotherapy treatments.
Her story comes as thousands of patients in the United States struggle to access medications amid a prolonged shortage that has affected not only chemotherapy drugs, but also diabetes medications, antibiotics and anesthetics.
Before he died, Bolle and his wife Connie shared their story publicly in hopes of drawing attention to the problem and pressuring federal action to fix it.
A recent survey of the country’s 29 largest cancer centers found that 72 percent had insufficient supplies of the chemotherapy drug carboplatin and 59 percent still suffer from a shortage of cisplatin. Both drugs are frequently used to treat a wide variety of cancers.
The deficit has meant that hundreds of thousands of patients do not receive the treatments they need.
Bolle’s fight against cancer began in October 2022, when he experienced unusual back pain that he initially attributed to weight lifting. She tried hot and cold compresses and took a break from intense exercise, but the pain didn’t go away.
Mr. Bolle said Today last year: ‘I was taking Tylenol at night just to be comfortable enough to sleep. I realized I just need to get this checked out to find out what it was.’
Blood tests by her primary care doctors showed elevated enzymes in her liver, and a subsequent MRI discovered a grapefruit-sized tumor located between her liver and kidney. He was diagnosed with bile duct cancer, which kills about 83 percent of its victims.
Bolle said: “My doctor said it was the kind of cancerous growth that will never go away.” They thought they could remove most of the tumor and they could use chemotherapy… to keep it at bay.’
Bolle continued to coach the high school football team while he was able to physically walk back and forth with his walker. His team remembered him as a dedicated coach who he led with kindness and compassion.
And they did at first, until they were told the doctors couldn’t get his medication to keep him alive.
After the platinum is extracted, it is converted to cisplatin in India at Intas Pharmaceuticals, before being filled and finished at FDA-approved sites in Europe and the United States. It is in these stages of development where the trouble spots that caused the shortage occurred.
Intas Pharmaceuticals has had trouble with the FDA over the years and was shut down after a surprise inspection of one of its sprawling plants last year uncovered quality control problems.
Staff were also found to have thrown acid on key documents in an effort to hide them from regulators. The shutdown of the manufacturing industry triggered a supply shock in February.
The FDA has resorted to opening import channels with China to introduce crucial drugs, a temporary solution.
The supply of other medicines has been affected by similar supply chain problems, as well as natural disasters. There are currently 323 medications out of stock nationwide, the highest number since 2001, when records began.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists surveyed more than 1,000 pharmacists and 99 percent said they had difficulty stocking enough medications they needed.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reported that drug shortages currently affecting the U.S. have reached their highest level in 23 years.
About one in three U.S. hospitals said they have had to skip, delay or underprescribe medications to patients because of supply gaps, while up to 99 percent of pharmacists have experienced the strain of first hand.
Experts have been warning for years about vulnerabilities in the pharmaceutical supply chain, including a shortage of a key ingredient sourced overseas, a flaw in the shipping process or regulatory or quality issues at the factory where the drug is made.
Natural disasters can also affect the supply of medications that reach hospitals and pharmacies. A tornado destroyed a Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina last summer, for example, leveling the warehouse that stored raw materials for drugs such as morphine and anesthetics.
Connie Bolle, Jeff’s wife, I can’t say for sure whether Jeff would be alive today if he had had access to the two remaining chemotherapy treatments that could prevent the spread of cancer cells after his tumor was surgically removed.
But she has found comfort in knowing that he gave his all for the students on his football team, which ended up winning the division one state football championship title.
Mr. Bolle attended every game and continued to help coach the defensive backs while he was able to muster the strength to walk the field with his walker, watching the plays closely.
Mrs Bolle said: ‘He knew how important it was to these secondary school kids. Some of the older ones had traveled with Jeff for four years.
He added: “I don’t know how Jeff did it because, honestly, he could barely stand.” At that time, he probably weighed around 140 pounds.”
On December 14, Bolle was in hospice care at home. On the 28th she agreed to remain in her hospital bed on the first floor of her house because climbing the stairs had become too onerous.
Ms. Bolle called this “a sign of defeat.” A day later, she passed away.
His team remembered him as a dedicated and very determined coach who led the team with kindness, courage and compassion until the end.
Mrs Bolle said: “He really cared that other people were not getting these chemotherapy drugs.” It would still make you sad today if people are still dealing with this.’