Managing drug shortages: Seven years’ experience at one health system

ASHP Guidelines on Managing Drug Product Shortages in Hospitals and Health Systems

“…1,2 Health care professionals are increasingly concerned about the clinical effect that shortages have on patients and the tremendous resources required to address shortages. [3][4][5] Adverse patient outcomes related to drug product shortages 1,2,6-9 have prompted aggressive management strategies by health care providers and gained the attention of the Joint Commission, 10 the government, 11,12 and the media. 13,14 Drug product shortages adversely affect healthsystem finances by increasing the cost of delivering patient care, largely through higher drug acquisition and personnel costs.…”

“…Such was the case when the sole source for hyaluronidase production closed, leaving no supplier. 5 FDA enforcement actions are intended to protect the public from potentially unsafe drug products. These actions are evaluated by FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) drug shortage coordinator to determine if the action might create a shortage of a medically necessary drug product.…”

Impact of drug shortages on U.S. health systems

“…3,4 The drug information service at University of Utah Health Care (UUHC), the organization that supports the ASHP drug shortage program, tracked a total of 224 drug shortages between January 1996 and June 2002. 3,5 In 2007, UUHC identified 129 new drug shortages, with 166 additional new shortages identified in 2009. 6 In 2010, the number of drug shortages Purpose.…”

Economic stress and misaligned incentives in critical care medicine in the United States

“…Reported shortages have included methylprednisolone, prochlorperazine, betamethasone, piperacillin/ tazobactam, fentanyl, furosemide, heparin, meropenem, and naloxone and a number of vaccinations, including the tetanus vaccine (43,44). The number of medications reported to be in short supply has been increasing annually, and the duration of these shortages continues to increase (45). Shortages as usually defined by healthcare organizations are those events that limit supply to the extent that methods of preparing the medications in the pharmacy are varied or care is compromised by forcing the selection of alternative medications or therapeutic modalities by practitioners.…”