4 things to know about tracking prescription drug shortages

In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act gave the FDA expanded powers to monitor and resolve drug shortages. A recent paper in Health Affairs evaluated trends in drug shortages before and after the passage of act and by an acute versus non-acute care drug categorization.

 

 The paper is based on 2001-14 data from the University of Utah's Drug Information System in Salt Lake City, which contains the entire list of shortages reported to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

 

Here are four things to know about the report:

  1. There's an increase in the number and duration of acute care drug shortages since 2012 despite a decline in the amount of new drug shortages over the same period.

  2. Shortages of acute care drugs, which had a median duration of 242 days, became increasingly frequent and prolonged compared with non-acute care drugs, which had a median duration of 173 days.

  3. When comparing the current FDA and UUDIS drug shortages lists, researchers found that of the 149 drugs on the UUDIS list as of May 5, only 52 — 34 percent — were also on the FDA's list.

  4. These results suggest that the drug supply for many acutely and critically ill patients in the United States remains vulnerable despite federal efforts.

 

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