Drug Shortages in the U.S. and What We Can Do About It
Critical shortages of prescription medication in the United States (and globally) The United States has chronic shortages of certain medicines, especially those used in critical care and surgical treatments. Recently, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal published articles on medication shortages. This analysis looks at current drug shortages, whether there are substitutions, the reasons for this phenomena, and what we could do about it. To help you understand the reasons for shortages in medications, I reviewed detailed information from the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, which tracks medications and posts an almost live-time report on drug shortages on its web site. [1] This chart shows several categories of drugs, both preventive and interventional medications which are in short supply as of February 2016. Drug Shortages as of February 2016 Drug Type Ampicillin injectable Aminocaproic Acid Injectable DtapIPVHib Vaccine Purpose S...