Medication Shortages

[registerednutrn]

Ok i work on a med/surge floor that mainly deals with post surgical patients (abdominal mostly). Recently we have been getting memos that state first there is a nation wide shortage of single dose morphine and to have the docs prescribe something else for pain ( did i say we were a post surgery floor). Then there was a nation wide shortage of

D50 (which i find out when my pt BS drops to 46). Then a nationwide shortage of vitamin C (that goes in TPN bags) and the most recent one is a shortage of Nubain. So far none of these shortages have been resolved. Is anyone else experiencing these shortages?

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Current Drug Shortages | FDA.gov

This site gives the drug name, company information, reason for shortage, and related information.

Here are other sites with more information:

ASHP Drug Product Shortages Management Resource Center

Drug Shortages Are Causing Safety Problems: Survey

This is quite interesting to read. I wonder, for example, what would cause an "increased demand" of IV lipid emulsion? Why the sudden people on TPN? And, omg, haldol is on that list. We're screwed.

It seems a few companies have "manufacturing delays" then the rest become short due to "increased demand."

[mediajunkie650]

This is quite interesting to read. I wonder, for example, what would cause an "increased demand" of IV lipid emulsion? Why the sudden people on TPN? And, omg, haldol is on that list. We're screwed.

It seems a few companies have "manufacturing delays" then the rest become short due to "increased demand."

I've added another site since you quoted my post.

I don't have an answer to your other questions - wish I did...

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

At my facility we have been experiencing a shortage of IV Vancomycin. the ID docs have been switching some pt's to Daptomycin instead. Also experiencing the IV Lasix shortage others mentioned.

[Up2nogood RN, RN]

No morphine shortage here, every once in awhile we have 2mg syringes instead of carpujects. 1mg dilaudid carpujects are not available to us now though ugh.

[catshowlady]

This popped up on RoadRunner today: http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/9000/22443295/Some_US_executions_held_up_by_shortage_of_drug

:paw:

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

This popped up on RoadRunner today: http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/9000/22443295/Some_US_executions_held_up_by_shortage_of_drug

:paw:

I feel like I almost never hear about executions occurring. How interesting that 17 are now held up.

[momof6kids]

Here in Alaska we are being told that we are to use the MSO4 sparingly and try and save it for the babies in peds because we don't know when we will get more. we are down to the 2mg syringes and that is it! We are told that we are out of dilaudid and we can use fentanyl but it is not often prescribed. How do you explain to a craniotomy patient that all we have is 2mg right now and we have to get permission from pharmacy to get more (by the way it's ordered q1hour) Ridiculous.

[TDCHIM]

As someone who relies on multiple medications to keep me functioning and able to study (and later on, work), the fact that drug shortages are becoming this problematic is terrifying to me. How is this not big-time news in the mainstream media? I found two stories (one of which was an AP story run by several news organizations) and a couple of short blog entries. Patients are dying from treatable conditions, not because they cannot pay (which is bad enough) but because certain medications cannot be obtained from manufacturers - that sounds like the material for a series to me.

While I was researching the issue, I came across this story from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists: http://www.ashp.org/import/news/HealthSystemPharmacyNews/newsarticle.aspx?id=3394

I was disturbed to learn from it that manufacturers aren't even required to notify the FDA of shortages unless a given corporation is the sole producer of a particular drug! To me, that seems like information manufacturers should be required to report to the FDA. Even spookier was a detail from one of the stories MediaJunkie650 posted, about "grey market" availability of drugs you cannot purchase through normal, legal channels due to supposed lack of supply. It reminded me of the USSR in the 1970s and 80s.