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US hospitals struggle to maintain pharmaceutical supplies

US hospitals in regions experiencing a surge of coronavirus patients are struggling to maintain supplies of antibiotics, antivirals and sedatives required for patients on ventilators, and other drugs produced in countries where the pandemic has halted or curbed manufacturing, reports The Washington Post.

Although overlooked by a public focused on shortages of ventilators and personal protective equipment, hospitals are increasingly concerned about future shortages of lifesaving drugs as authorities in India and other countries producing the drugs try to guarantee supplies for their own people.

“Everyone has been discussing the requirements for more vents, but no one is discussing the needs for patients when they are on the vents, the sedatives, anaesthetics and paralytic agents," said Onisis Stefas, vice president and chief pharmacy officer at Northwell Health, a 23-hospital system in New York.

The report says the shortages highlight heavy US dependence on bulk drug ingredients and finished medicines manufactured in China, India and Europe, medical experts say, as well as the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) limited ability to monitor global supply chains, creating vulnerabilities for the health system in a time of crisis. “The pharmacy supply chain is really not built for this,” Stefas said. “They make their product and release it based on historical data. It makes situations like this, that are not expected, very difficult to manage.”

[link url="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/12/drug-ventilator-shortage-coronavirus/"]Full report in The Washington Post[/link]

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