Hospitals fight drug scarcity, fear patients harmed

“It seems like as soon as one drug is no longer in shortage, we get an email from the hospital pharmacist that they’re on their last box of another,” he said.

Every disruption forces doctors to change dosing, or give new drug combinations they may not be as familiar with.

“I didn’t envision this when I went to anesthesia,” Soch said. “I’d figured we’d have whatever we needed.”

SCRAMBLING FOR A FIX

The problem has inspired some creative solutions, like a drug shortages mobile application called RxShortages that allows medical and pharmacy staff to track new drug shortages posted on websites, including the FDA’s. Mick Schroeder, a pharmacy resident who created the app, said it has been downloaded about 25,000 times.

Brooke Bernhardt, an oncology pharmacist at Texas Children’s Hospital, said she checks RxShortages at least once a day.

“Unfortunately, at any point we expect a drug to go on back order,” she said.

Szandzik, the pharmacy director at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, admits he would buy a larger quantity of drugs than usual if it became available.

“If I have to get one or two months’ supply, I’ll buy it, because our patients need it,” he said. “Hoarding is in the eye of the beholder.”

Some distributors and manufacturers prevent hoarding by allocating drugs based on historical demand. Other pharmacists say it is natural to want to buy more to ensure supply.

“Why did it ever have to get to this point in the first place?” Szandzik asked. “It takes a lot of hours, a lot of labor, a lot of luck to make sure our patients are safe. ... And I don’t see it getting better for a while.”

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By Anna Yukhananov
WASHINGTON