... which is a perfect example of why we need derivatives markets. If hospitals purchased drugs a year in advance of anticipated demand, they would pay a slight premium, but wouldn't be subject to squeezes like this.
...unless Goldman stopped selling derivatives on chemotherapy drugs and instead began to stockpile a large fraction of the available chemotherapy drugs in warehouses in Detroit.
You are absolutely correct that futures or call options could ameliorate this issue.
However, I think stockpiling cancer drugs is a market distortion, which might justify government intervention in the form of price ceilings for various generic drugs.
