April 15 Drug Shortages
"The Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA "have received requests for assistance from states and localities to fill pharmaceutical shortages," a FEMA spokeswoman told ABC News Tuesday. The agencies "are working closely with our state and local colleagues to ensure that any critical shortfalls are identified."
"A FEMA spokeswoman said supplies are running low for the drugs used to treat and sedate patients who need to be mechanically ventilated. The problem is twofold: There are more patients who need such drugs because of the pandemic and many seriously ill with coronavirus often wind up needing mechanical ventilation for two and three times the number of days typical ventilator patients need the treatment."
"A new fear, the official said, is that a lack of necessary drugs in ambulances could make the treatment of patients in route to hospitals less effective, and potentially more dangerous"
There are still shortages of sedatives, propofol, injectable fentanyl, pain medications, paralytic drugs.
On Friday, I saw on youtube, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer saying she had to write Vice President Pence about their state shortgage
"We are faced with dangerous low levels of medications to safely place patients on ventilators to assure sufficient sedation and pain relief while they remain on ventilators. These medications are just as important as the ventilators themselves."
"One complicating factor: "Injectable drugs take a long time to make," Kistner says. "For instance, there's a 21-day sterility period needed for all injectable drugs. So it's not something simple that you can do overnight."
"At present we're running through anywhere up to 134 bags of fentanyl," says Dr. Shanti Akers, pulmonary and critical care physician at Phoebe Putney. "Pre-COVID that would have lasted us two to three weeks. And now we're running through that quantity in simply a day."
Other Shortages
Other drug shortages have emerged as unintended consequences of the coronavirus. When doctors hoping to prevent the coronavirus from getting airborne inside their facilities avoided nebulizers for patients with respiratory trouble, they inadvertently created shortages of everyday albuterol asthma inhalers in hospitals and retail pharmacies.
-Generic drugs account for about 90 percent of all prescriptions filled in the United States. About 87 percent of the factories making raw pharmaceutical ingredients used in generics are located overseas, with 48 percent in India and China, according to industry estimates. China shut down drug manufacturing facilities during its coronavirus lockdown, but some of those facilities are expected to come back on line in coming weeks and months.
--Nebulizers, Ventolin inhalers, albuterol, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine
--Severe shortages have prevented some patients who rely on the drugs for approved uses, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, from getting their routine supplies.
--Supply chain has identified 156 drugs that could go into shortage in the next 90 days.
Critical intubation drugs still in short supply in NYC coronavirus fight
U.S. May Get More Ventilators But Run Out Of Medicine For COVID-19 Patients
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/12/drug-ventilator-shortage-coronavirus/
Forgot to add link- Governor of Michigan letter to VP Pence -beginning of video
"The Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA "have received requests for assistance from states and localities to fill pharmaceutical shortages," a FEMA spokeswoman told ABC News Tuesday. The agencies "are working closely with our state and local colleagues to ensure that any critical shortfalls are identified."
"A FEMA spokeswoman said supplies are running low for the drugs used to treat and sedate patients who need to be mechanically ventilated. The problem is twofold: There are more patients who need such drugs because of the pandemic and many seriously ill with coronavirus often wind up needing mechanical ventilation for two and three times the number of days typical ventilator patients need the treatment."
"A new fear, the official said, is that a lack of necessary drugs in ambulances could make the treatment of patients in route to hospitals less effective, and potentially more dangerous"
There are still shortages of sedatives, propofol, injectable fentanyl, pain medications, paralytic drugs.
On Friday, I saw on youtube, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer saying she had to write Vice President Pence about their state shortgage
"We are faced with dangerous low levels of medications to safely place patients on ventilators to assure sufficient sedation and pain relief while they remain on ventilators. These medications are just as important as the ventilators themselves."
"One complicating factor: "Injectable drugs take a long time to make," Kistner says. "For instance, there's a 21-day sterility period needed for all injectable drugs. So it's not something simple that you can do overnight."
"At present we're running through anywhere up to 134 bags of fentanyl," says Dr. Shanti Akers, pulmonary and critical care physician at Phoebe Putney. "Pre-COVID that would have lasted us two to three weeks. And now we're running through that quantity in simply a day."
Other Shortages
Other drug shortages have emerged as unintended consequences of the coronavirus. When doctors hoping to prevent the coronavirus from getting airborne inside their facilities avoided nebulizers for patients with respiratory trouble, they inadvertently created shortages of everyday albuterol asthma inhalers in hospitals and retail pharmacies.
-Generic drugs account for about 90 percent of all prescriptions filled in the United States. About 87 percent of the factories making raw pharmaceutical ingredients used in generics are located overseas, with 48 percent in India and China, according to industry estimates. China shut down drug manufacturing facilities during its coronavirus lockdown, but some of those facilities are expected to come back on line in coming weeks and months.
--Nebulizers, Ventolin inhalers, albuterol, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine
--Severe shortages have prevented some patients who rely on the drugs for approved uses, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, from getting their routine supplies.
--Supply chain has identified 156 drugs that could go into shortage in the next 90 days.
Critical intubation drugs still in short supply in NYC coronavirus fight
U.S. May Get More Ventilators But Run Out Of Medicine For COVID-19 Patients
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/12/drug-ventilator-shortage-coronavirus/
Forgot to add link- Governor of Michigan letter to VP Pence -beginning of video
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