Emergency rooms face shortages of acute-care drugs

At some hospitals, posters on the emergency department wall list the drugs that are in short supply or unavailable.

The low-tech visual aid can save time with critically ill patients, allowing doctors to focus on providing care rather than doing research on the fly.

The need for work-arounds probably won’t end anytime soon.

According to a new study, shortages of many drugs that are essential in emergency care have increased in both number and duration in recent years even as shortages of drugs for non-acute or chronic care have eased.

For a report published in the May issue of Health Affairs, researchers analyzed drug-shortage data between 2001 and 2014. They divided the drugs into acute and non-acute categories. Acute-care drugs were those used in emergency departments for severe conditions and include pain medications, heart drugs, and saline and electrolyte products.

Overall, the study found that 52 percent of the 1,929 shortages during the time period studied were for acute-care drugs.

— Washington Post

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