Clinicians and patients affected by drug shortages may soon feel some relief. The FDA has announced that multi-trace element products and a phosphate injection product will be imported to the United States to alleviate shortages. Additionally, a supply of cupric chloride has been made available through Hospira.
These products come in timely succession to recent popular news items that put a face to the problems caused by drug shortages.
A May 2013 article in Washingtonian magazine discusses how rationing and withholding certain vitamins and trace elements affects patients. A.S.P.E.N. has been at the forefront of the drug shortage crisis affecting the United States since the mid-1990s when the problem first came to light. Also in recent news, an article quotes A.S.P.E.N.’s past president Jay Mirtallo on the complications facing neonates caused by zinc shortages.
A.S.P.E.N. provides resources, including news, information about how to report shortages, and recommendations about what to do when shortages occur for practicing clinicians who struggle with the realities of drug shortages as a daily part of their job.
A petition asking the FDA to put an end to drug shortages was started by Ann Weaver, a concerned mother of a patient on parenteral nutrition. Weaver also does volunteer work with the Oley Foundation.
A.S.P.E.N. is continuing to address drug shortages and advocate for clinicians and patients who are most directly impacted by working with the FDA.
