Majority of US Hospitals Face Drug Shortages, Survey Reports

Recent survey by the American Hospital Association reports that majority of the US hospitals have been facing shortage of life-saving drugs in the past six months. Owing to unprecedented drug shortages, more than 80% of American hospitals reported that they had to delay the treatment for the patients and about 70% of them said that they had to treat their patients with less effective alternative drugs. This, in turn, had a great impact on patients' health, with adverse outcomes in some patients and, in rare cases, near misses or deaths as well.

Eighty percent of hospitals reported that they are experiencing drug shortages in many essential treatment categories such as chemotherapy, emergency care, gastrointestinal/nutrition, surgery/anesthesia, and infectious diseases. In view of the above, many hospitals reported the implementation of rationing or restrictions of the use of drugs in short supply, such as a leukemia drug called cytarabine, for which there are no effective substitutes.

In order to prevent significant impact on patient care, FDA closely works with drug-manufacturing firms to ramp up the production of drugs in short supply. The drug shortages occur due to many factors such as manufacturing problems, shortage of raw ingredients, natural disasters, and temporary halt in production to upgrade the quality of the drug. According to the FDA, there was a record high of 178 drug shortages in 2010. Also, in 2011, this shortage has continued at a fast pace, particularly involving injectable generic drugs.

At this time of growing drug shortages, International Drug Mart is an ideal option for patients who are in need of drugs that are short in supply such as anticancer medications and antibiotics. International Drug Mart supplies a wide range of cheap and high-quality generic medications, which will certainly benefit the patients who are facing adverse effects due to the unavailability of the drugs. These medications, which are manufactured by the world renowned pharmaceuticals, are delivered to the customers within a short time frame.

Aug 04, 2011