As you are all painfully aware, the drug shortages do not seem to be letting up. It seems that as soon as one product once again becomes available, two others become unavailable. This on again – off again supply chain makes it extremely difficult to stay on top of the situation. To help you do just that, JCB will discuss the drug shortages regularly in our blog.Below are 5 common drugs that are in short supply along and the most recent available information per the ASHP Drug Shortage Website:
- Propofol 1% (10mg/mL) Injection. There are two U.S. companies currently manufacturing propofol. Hospira cannot estimate a release date and APP has limited product available but cannot keep up with increased demand. Some wholesalers, when they can get the product, are now restricting the sale of propofol only to hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. Additionally, only the large volume single-dose vials have been available recently. (Leading to waste)
- Epinephrine 1:1000, preservative free/sulfite free Injection. While there are manufacturers that make preservative free epinephrine (Hospira and JHP) there is only one manufacturer, ARL, that makes a preservative-free AND sulfite free epinephrine. ARL has no release date on their epinephrine.
- Metoclopramide 5mg/mL injection. There is no manufactured product currently available as Hospira is the only manufacturer. Even though Hospira estimates they will be able to begin releasing some product late August, it will likely take months for the supply chain to stabilize.
- Nalbuphine 10mg/mL injection. Hospira is the only company left manufacturing this product. This concentration is on intermittent back order with no firm date on when the product will be readily available.
- Ketorolac 30mg/mL injection, 1mL vials/syringes. There are multiple manufacturers but 3 of the largest suppliers stopped making the med within the last 2 years - all because of quality issues. Hospira has this size and concentration on intermittent backorder and all other manufacturers cannot estimate a release date.
What do all of these shortages have in common? JCB can help! In the case of propofol, based on the recent CMS letter JCB can repackage your large volume, single-dose vials into smaller, unit of use syringes. This can preserve the valuable product and reduce waste. In the case of the other four medications, we can custom-compound these for you when they are unavailable from the manufacturer. Call us. We are here to help you better serve your patients.
