Rita Rubin
USA Today
2/2/2011
Unprecedented shortages of injectable drugs have forced doctors to resort to medications that are less safe or postpone or cancel procedures, often at the last minute, according to the Food and Drug Administration and health care groups.
Anesthesiology and oncology have been hit particularly hard. Last month, the only U.S. maker of Pentothal, used for 70 years to induce anesthesia, said it had abandoned plans to resume production, which it had halted a year and a half earlier.
“I can say right now it’s as bad as it’s ever been,” says pharmacist Bona Benjamin of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, which has tracked shortages since 2001. The number of drugs in short supply has tripled since 2005, Benjamin says. “It’s drugs that are potentially lifesaving or critically important in care.” The painkiller morphine; amikacin, an antibiotic for serious bacterial infections; and carmustine, a chemotherapy drug, are among about 150 drugs in short supply, her group says…
The article continues at USA Today.
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