Trends in United States Drug Shortages for Medications Used in Gastroenterology

Introduction Drug shortages have become more severe in recent years; however, data describing how such shortages impact gastroenterology (GI) drugs are limited. We characterize longitudinal trends of drug shortages in the USA within the scope of GI practice. Methods Drug shortage data from the University of Utah Drug Information Service were analyzed from January 2001 to December 2014. A board certified gastroenterologist, an internal medicine physician, and a clinical pharmacist identified drug shortages within the scope of GI practice, whether they are used for high-acuity conditions, availability, formulation, or therapeutic category. Trends in the length of shortages for GI drugs were described using standard descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Results A total of 1,774 drug shortages were reported over the 14-year period. Of those, 253 shortages (14.3%) were classified within the scope of GI practice. The number of newly-reported GI drug shortages increased from 15 in 2001 to 44 in 2014. The majority of GI drugs (55.7%) were parenteral and 102 shortages (40.3%) were single source drugs. By the end of the study period, 44 (17.4%) GI drugs remained on active shortage with a median duration of 24.3 months (interquartile range [IQR] 6.9–32.1). The median duration for resolved shortages of GI drugs was 7.7 months (IQR 2.9–17.6). Conclusions There was a significant increase in shortages of drugs used in GI practice from 2001 to 2014. Many of these drugs were used for high-acuity conditions and alternative agents were also impacted. Gastroenterologists must be cognizant of current shortages in order to mitigate impact on patient care.

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Shortage of generic neurologic therapeutics

Neurology ◽

10.1212/wnl.0000000000004737 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 89 (24) ◽

pp. 2431-2437

Author(s):

Jacklyn O. Omorodion ◽

Rami M. Algahtani ◽

Mark S. Zocchi ◽

Erin R. Fox ◽

Jesse M. Pines ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Generic Drugs ◽

Information Service ◽

The United States ◽

Median Number ◽

Raw Material ◽

Professional Organizations ◽

Drug Shortage ◽

Business Decisions ◽

University Of Utah ◽

The Government

Objective:To assess longitudinal trends in shortages of generic drugs used for neurologic conditions over a 15-year period in the United States.Methods:Drug shortage data from the University of Utah Drug Information Service (UUDIS) from 2001 to 2015 were analyzed. Medications were included that were likely to be prescribed by a neurologist to treat a primary neurologic condition or critical for care of a patient with a neurologic condition. Trends in shortage length were assessed using standard descriptive statistics.Results:A total of 2,081 shortages were reported by UUDIS and 311 (15%) involved medications for neurologic conditions. After excluding discontinued products, 291 shortages were analyzed. The median number of neurologic drugs in shortage was 21 per month with a median duration of 7.4 months. During the three 5-year periods of 2001–2005, 2006–2010, and 2011–2015, a median of 12.5, 14, and 45 drugs were in shortage, respectively. A maximum of 50 drugs in shortage was reached in December 2012 and December 2014. By the end of the study period, 30 neurologic drugs remained in shortage. In over half of the shortages, manufacturers did not provide a reason for the shortage. When reported, manufacturing delays, followed by supply/demand issues, raw material shortages, regulatory issues, and business decisions were cited.Conclusions:Continued drug shortages may compromise the care of patients with neurologic conditions. Manufacturers, together with professional organizations, patient advocacy groups, and the government, need to continue to address this issue, which may escalate with a growing burden of neurologic disease.

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Current bibliography of Cell Calcium prepared by the University of Sheffield Biomedical Information Service

Cell Calcium ◽

10.1016/0143-4160(93)90078-k ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 14 (7) ◽

pp. B49-B60

Keyword(s):

Information Service ◽

Cell Calcium ◽

The University

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Patients perspectives on drug shortages in six European hospital settings – a cross sectional study

BMC Health Services Research ◽

10.1186/s12913-021-06721-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Darija Kuruc Poje ◽

Domagoj Kifer ◽

Isabelle Huys ◽

Joao Miranda ◽

Helena Jenzer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Management Practices ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Demographic Data ◽

General Information ◽

Basic Knowledge ◽

Drug Shortage ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Drug Shortages ◽

Good Communication ◽

Information Preferences

Abstract Background It is known that drug shortages represent a major challenge for all stakeholders involved in the process, but there is little evidence regarding insights into patients′ awareness and perspectives. This study aimed to investigate the patients-perceived drug shortages experience and their view on outcomes in different European hospital settings. Furthermore, we wanted to explore information preferences on drug shortages. Methods A retrospective, cross sectional, a mixed method study was conducted in six European hospital settings. One hospital (H) from each of this country agreed to participate: Bosnia and Herzegovina (H-BiH), Croatia (H-CR), Germany (H-GE), Greece (H-GR), Serbia (H-SE) and Poland (H-PO). Recruitment and data collection was conducted over 27 months from November 2017 until January 2020. Overall, we surveyed 607 patients which completed paper-based questionnaire. Questions related to: general information (demographic data), basic knowledge on drug shortages, drug shortages experienced during hospitalization and information preferences on drug shortage. Differences between hospital settings were analyzed using Chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test. For more complex contingency tables, Monte Carlo simulations (N = 2000) were applied for Fisher’s test. Post-hoc hospital-wise analyses were performed using Fisher’s exact tests. False discovery rate was controlled using the Bonferroni method. Analyses were performed using R: a language and environment for statistical computing (v 3.6.3). Results 6 % of patients reported experiences with drug shortages while hospitalized which led to a deterioration of their health. The majority of affected patients were hospitalized at hematology and/or oncology wards in H-BiH, H-PO and H-GE. H-BiH had the highest number of affected patients (18.1 %, N = 19/105, p < 0.001) while the fewest patients were in H-SE (1 %, N = 1/100, p = 0.001). In addition, 82.5 %, (N = 501/607) of respondents wanted to be informed of alternative treatment options if there was a drug shortage without a generic substitute available. Majority of these patients (66.4 %, N = 386/501) prefer to be informed by a healthcare professional. Conclusions Although drug shortages led to serious medical consequences, our findings show that most of the patients did not perceive shortages as a problem. One possible interpretation is that good hospital management practices by healthcare professionals helped to mitigate the perceived impact of shortages. Our study highlights the importance of a good communication especially between patients and healthcare professionals in whom our patients have the greatest trust.

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Public Administration and Values Oriented to Sustainability: A Systematic Approach to the Literature

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13052566 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 2566

Author(s):

Isabel Marques ◽

João Leitão ◽

Alba Carvalho ◽

Dina Pereira

Keyword(s):

Public Administration ◽

Future Research ◽

Main Research ◽

Sustainable Performance ◽

Future Research Agenda ◽

Research Collaborations ◽

Work Area ◽

The Social ◽

The Usa ◽

The University

Values guide actions and judgements, form the basis of attitudinal and behavioral processes, and have an impact on leaders’ decision-making, contributing to more sustainable performance. Through a bibliometric study and content analysis, 2038 articles were selected from Scopus, from the period 1994–2021, presenting global research tendencies on the subject of values, public administration, and sustainability. The results indicate that Sustainability is the most productive journal, the main research category is in social sciences, the most productive institution is the University of Queensland, the location with the most publications and research collaborations is the USA, and the authors with the greatest number of articles are Chung, from Chung-Ang University; García-Sánchez, from the University of Salamanca; and Pérez, from the University of Cantabria. Analysis of keywords shows that the most relevant are “sustainability”, “CSR”, “sustainable development”, “innovation”, and “leadership”. Time analysis of keywords reveals a tendency for lines of research in the social and work area. The results also provide data about the framing of studies in sustainability pillars and the types of values referred to and indicate the main areas of public administration studied. Finally, a future research agenda is proposed.

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Impact of anti-cancer drugs shortages in oncology and hematology departments in a Moroccan hospital

Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice ◽

10.1177/10781552211008212 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107815522110082

Author(s):

Ali Cherif Chefchaouni ◽

Youssef Moutaouakkil ◽

Badr Adouani ◽

Yasmina Tadlaoui ◽

Jamal Lamsaouri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Management Plan ◽

Essential Elements ◽

Cancer Drugs ◽

Drug Shortage ◽

Medical File ◽

Short Supply ◽

Drug Shortages ◽

Non Hodgkin Lymphoma ◽

Anti Cancer ◽

The Impact

Introduction Drug shortages have been a growing global problem in recent years. Some of them are of vital necessity and importance for the patient, such as those used to treat pathologies in clinical hematology and oncology departments. The objectives of this study are to determine the impact of anti-cancer drugs shortages on both: treatment and patient in the hematology and oncology departments, to describe the actions that have been put in place to manage the shortages and to survey patients about their perspectives and experiences. Materials and methods It was a prospective, observational study, it took place in the oncology and hematology departments. It was carried out with the help of an operating sheet, which contained two parts: patient and treatment data. This sheet was filled out after the interview with the patient and on the basis of the medical file. Results Of the 101 patients interviewed, 67.3% were impacted by the shortage of drugs. The treated pathology that was most impacted by the rupture was Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (55.8%), vincristine was the drug most responsible for the shortages (34%). Most patients (51.4%) went to a non-local pharmacy to buy the medicine that was in short supply in the hospital. Delayed care was the main impact of the drug shortage (42.6%). As a result of these shortages, the majority of patients (45.6%) were frustrated and anxious about the situation. Conclusion Drug shortages have a profound impact on patient safety, clinical outcomes, quality of treatment, hospital management and other important factors. In-depth collaboration between different health actors and timely communication strategies are essential elements of an effective drug shortage management plan.

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Development of a Smartphone-Based University Library Navigation and Information Service Employing Wi-Fi Location Fingerprinting

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21020432 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 432

Author(s):

Guenther Retscher ◽

Alexander Leb

Keyword(s):

Performance Improvement ◽

Low Cost ◽

Information Service ◽

Raspberry Pi ◽

University Library ◽

Stop And Go ◽

Promising Solution ◽

Localization Performance ◽

The University ◽

Suitable Location

A guidance and information service for a University library based on Wi-Fi signals using fingerprinting as chosen localization method is under development at TU Wien. After a thorough survey of suitable location technologies for the application it was decided to employ mainly Wi-Fi for localization. For that purpose, the availability, performance, and usability of Wi-Fi in selected areas of the library are analyzed in a first step. These tasks include the measurement of Wi-Fi received signal strengths (RSS) of the visible access points (APs) in different areas. The measurements were carried out in different modes, such as static, kinematic and in stop-and-go mode, with six different smartphones. A dependence on the positioning and tracking modes is seen in the tests. Kinematic measurements pose much greater challenges and depend significantly on the duration of a single Wi-Fi scan. For the smartphones, the scan durations differed in the range of 2.4 to 4.1 s resulting in different accuracies for kinematic positioning, as fewer measurements along the trajectories are available for a device with longer scan duration. The investigations indicated also that the achievable localization performance is only on the few meter level due to the small number of APs of the University own Wi-Fi network deployed in the library. A promising solution for performance improvement is the foreseen usage of low-cost Raspberry Pi units serving as Wi-Fi transmitter and receiver.

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