Posted by Michael Wonder on 28 Mar 2019
Hospital pharmacists face dozens of drug shortages yearly
28 March 2019 - More than two-thirds of pharmacists in U.S. hospitals deal with at least 50 drug shortages every year, according to a new study that suggests hospital staff are often forced to ration life-saving medicines as a result.
Researchers surveyed 719 pharmacists at large and small hospitals across the country in 2018. Every one of them reported experiencing at least one drug shortage in the past year, and 69 percent had dealt with at least 50 shortages in that time.
Most often, pharmacists said they had less than a month of warning about dwindling supplies before they had to manage an active drug shortage, the study team reports in JAMA Internal Medicine.
