Republicans claim that health care reform is dangerous to patients due to a potential for ‘rationing care.’ But we’re already in an era of health care rationing, with hospitals no longer having a large enough supply of numerous life saving drugs to be able to safely and effectively treat patients.

A record 211 medications became scarce in 2010 – triple the number in 2006 – and at least 89 new shortages have been recorded through the end of March, putting the nation on track for far more scarcities.

The paucities are forcing some medical centers to ration drugs – including one urgently needed by leukemia patients – postpone surgeries and other care, and scramble for substitutes, often resorting to alternatives that may be less effective, have more side effects and boost the risk for overdoses and other sometimes-fatal errors.

‘It’s a crisis,