Thoracentesis collection bottle shortage

[bwadds]

The hospital where I work is experiencing a shortage in the evacuated glass thoracentesis collection bottles. What I have heard is that the company that makes them was shut down by the FDA or something to that extent. Working in the ICU this issue became quite frustrating when I was helping a doctor do a bedside thoracentesis and we only had 1 bottle on the entire unit (we needed more than one).

My question is, has anyone else out there noticed this particular shortage? If so, how is the hospital you work for bridging the gap? I have to think there is more than one company out there that makes these bottles, but that was the impression I was given. There is the collection bag that comes with the thoracentesis tray, but what if you need to collect more fluid than even it will allow?

[umcRN, BSN, RN]

There seems to be a 'shortage' of everything. Our hospital had a 'shortage' of Dobutamine. I'd requisition a new bag and the pharmacist would call and ask: "Do you REALLY need it?" Um ... yeah!

We had a shortage of Epi. Not Kidding! I work on a pedi cardiac ICU and we use Epi like it's candy some weeks. I called pharmacy because we were out of Epi in our Pyxis (for certain things like chest closures, ecmo deployment and other procedures we like to have epi already drawn and at the bedside w/o cracking a code cart)...the pharmacist, no lie, told me to use ATROPINE! Umm WHAT? I'm seriously hoping this was a tech, who is not a pharm student, who answered the phone because otherwise...???

Anyways, I told her our medical director would be on the phone with her supervisor shortly and I got the Epi we needed.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Anyone else ever wonder about these "shortages"? Anyone else as cynical as I am - that they are, to some extent, artificially controlled? A few months ago we were told there was a national shortage of Cytoxan, a very old, very common chemo drug that's been generic for years and years. Newer, more expensive drugs are out on the market. I have to wonder....