In the U.S., rattlesnakes and coral snakes are highly venomous. And sub-Saharan Africa has ten of the deadliest snakes in the world. Antivenom can save lives -but, as of right now, we've run out of some types of antivenom, and not just here in the U.S., but around the world. The big deal about antivenoms and shortages in the world right now is that drug companies that make any kind of pharmaceutical product, only make it if it's profitable. And the problem with antivenoms is they tend to be fairly expensive to produce. It's expensive to produce and there is not enough demand - so little in fact, that the pharmaceutical company that produced antivenom products stopped making them in 2003. The Food and Drug Administration stepped in and extended the expiration dates of the last remaining supplies to last until June 2016.

Originally released by Inside Science, 2016. Streaming video file encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on September 25, 2017.

Snake Anti-venom (4:37);