Shortages of cardiovascular drugs have become increasingly common, representing an ongoing public health crisis. Given few therapeutic alternatives to many of the drugs in short supply, these shortages also pose a major challenge for cardiovascular care professionals. Although changes in the regulatory environment have led to some improvements in recent years, problems involving manufacturing p...

The recent IJHPR article by Schwartzberg and colleagues presents new data on the growing problem of prescription drug shortages. Resolving shortages typically involves many participants: government, industry, physicians and healthcare facilities. Israel has a strong record of informal collaboration that can fix drug shortages quickly. The success of Israel's informal collaborations, as well as ...

OBJECTIVE Drug shortages were a complex global problem. The aim of this study was to analyze, characterize, and assess the drug shortages, and identify possible solutions in Shaanxi Province, western China. METHODS A qualitative methodological approach was conducted during May-June 2015 and December 2015-January 2016. Semi-structured interviews were performed to gather information from repres...

     The effectiveness of any drug supply systems in providing a trustworthy supply of essential drugs is a critical issue. To evaluate this effectiveness, it is necessary to watch over the status of the essential medicines in any country impartially and continuously. Some countries and also the World Health Organization (WHO) have codified a list of minimum medicines needed for a basic health ...

Short-term back orders and long-term unavailability of drug products have been a challenge to pharmacy managers for many years. Nevertheless, these drug product shortages have been increasing in frequency and severity since the late 1990s. The causes are varied and involve all segments of the “supply chain.” Changes in policies and practices among these segments individually and collectively co...

The Drug Shortage Program at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a division of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), one of the five centers within FDA. The four other centers include the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Center for Veterinary Medicine. At the Drug Short...

patient care when prescribers must use an alternative agent,” whereas the FDA focuses only on “products used to prevent or treat a serious or life-threatening disease or medical condition for which there is no other available source with sufficient supply of that product or alternative drug available.”2–5 The Drug Information Service at University of Utah Health Care (UUHC), which partners with...

Background: Orphan drugs (ODs) are pharmaceuticals manufactured for rare conditions that affect less than 200,000 people in the US. ODs are therefore produced in small quantities to meet sparse demand. Since 2010, OD shortages have become frequent, but no comprehensive, quantitative studies exist. Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the rates of OD shortages per therapeutic clas...