Local 2 Investigates is learning more about a drug shortage hitting hospitals and patients across Houston. It's forcing patients to delay treatments, postpone surgeries and scramble for alternatives.

• FDA Drug Shortage List | American Hospital Association Information On Drug Shortages | International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists

There are more than 60 medicines on the Food and Drug Administration's current medicine shortage list, but the list doesn't include all of the shortages, and it's changing daily.

Houston hairstylist Carlos Franco is suffering from lung cancer.

"It was kind of surreal when I found out I had cancer," the 33-year-old said from his Houston salon. "The first person I called was my mom, and I just heard the phone drop." 

The good news -- doctors caught Franco's cancer early. The bad news -- he's a month late getting his next round of chemotherapy because the medicine he needs is on the drug shortage list. With not enough of the medicine to go around, a frustrated Franco was put on a waiting list.

"You don't know where you are on the list," Franco said. "There could be 100 people and I'm number 100."

Thousands of patients all across Houston have been affected by drug shortages hitting hospital after hospital.  The largest backlogs appear to be with cancer drugs and anesthesia medicines needed for surgeries, but hospitals said the shortage is affecting everything from infant eye drops to antiviral medicines for organ transplant patients.

"The shortage can last anywhere from weeks to months," said Dan Metzen, director of pharmacy at Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. "It's very frustrating."

Metzen's team has been forced to scramble to find medicines that used to be readily available. They work with other hospitals throughout the medical center on a give-and-take basis. Metzen said drug makers almost never say what's causing the shortage.

"They'll probably give you 20 different reasons, but the most common reason we get is 'unknown,'" said Metzen. 

The medicine shortage is not just affecting Houston. A nationwide survey by the American Hospital Association shows almost 100 percent of hospitals surveyed reported drug shortages. Eighty-two percent report they have been forced to delay patient treatment and 77 percent of hospitals said there's little or no notice the shortage is coming.

"We get calls daily from people who didn't have a notice," said Patty Miller of Village Compounding Pharmacy in Houston. "They didn't have a warning. They have a surgery scheduled for tomorrow and they need a drug and they need help."

The compounding pharmacy is trying to fill the gap. Workers have been busy formulating replacement drugs and producing substitutes. New technology is allowing accredited compounding pharmacies like Village to make many more safe alternatives to the hospital medicines on back order.  

"Just from what I see, I don't see an end to it," said Phil Pylant, owner of Village Compounding Pharmacy.

On the FDA website, drug makers blame their shortages on everything from manufacturing delays to supply issues to increased demand. Right now, the FDA cannot require them to give a reason or even force the companies to report shortages.

Hospitals are hoping Congress will force the pharmaceutical companies to give them notice a medicine shortage is coming.

The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists is based in Houston. It has set up a website and call center to help patients, hospitals and doctors find alternatives to the medicines they can't find. You can call 800-927-4227 or go to www.iacprx.com.