Drug shortages are repeatedly in the news. The earliest drug shortages were reported during the First World War, but the numbers of shortages have increased in recent years. In the first part of this two-part review, we discuss definitions of drug shortages and so-called stockouts, which are localized shortages, and the harms that they can cause. Drug shortages make it difficult or impossible to meet the therapeutic needs of individual patients or populations, but we lack an adequate definition. The problems are too complicated to be encompassed in a brief intensional dictionary-style definition, and that is reflected in the many different attempts at definition that have been proposed. We therefore propose an extensional operational definition that incorporates the processes by which products are manufactured, the causes of shortages and the contributory factors. A definition of this sort allows one to identify the main causes of a particular drug shortage and therefore the remedies that might prevent, mitigate or manage it. In the second part of the review we discuss the causes and solutions in more detail. Adverse drug reactions and medication errors attributable to shortages occur but are not often reported. Adverse reactions to substitute medicines are possible, and errors can occur because of unfamiliarity or unnecessary treatment with replacement medicines. Other harmful outcomes include withdrawal reactions, undertreatment, treatment delays and cancellations, failure of alternatives and disruption of clinical trials.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bcp.15842 | DOI Listing |
Pathogens
November 2024
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Centre Cardiologique du Nord, 93200 Saint-Denis, France.
Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) is the medical term used to describe a focus of infection involving a valvular substitute within the heart. It is a significant concern in the field of cardiology, and the epidemiology of PVE has seen notable developments over the last five decades. The disease currently affects an older demographic and is becoming increasingly prevalent in patients with transcatheter-implanted valves.
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January 2025
Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Ozempic and related semaglutide drugs represent a popular new strategy to address obesity in the United States, yet uptake of these medications has sparked opposition highlighting concerns about off-label drug use policies, drug safety, supply shortages and cost. Public attitudes towards off-label prescribing by physicians broadly, and towards Ozempic in particular, in light of this opposition are unclear. To better understand public sentiment on this topic, we analysed data from a representative survey of 3,420 US adults conducted from 13 to 22 June 2023.
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December 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China.
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) caused by placental dysfunctions leads to fetal growth defects. Maternal microbiome and its metabolites have been reported to promote placental development. Milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) is known for its diverse bioactive functions, while the effects of gestational MFGM supplementation on the maternal gut microbiota, placental efficiency, and fetal development remained unclear.
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January 2025
Department of Endocrinology, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Endocrinology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing100730, China.
With the population aging, the prevalence of osteoporosis is rapidly increasing, which has become serious public health problem. At present, there is a severe shortage of effective anti-osteoporotic drugs in China, making it difficult to control the growing trend of osteoporosis. The key pathological mechanism of osteoporosis is bone homeostasis imbalance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNaunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol
January 2025
Hannover Medical School, Institute of Pharmacology, D-30625, Hannover, Germany.
The increasing supply shortages of antibacterial drugs presents significant challenges to public health in Germany. This study aims to predict the future consumption of the ten most prescribed antibacterial drugs in Germany up to 2040 using ARIMA (Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average) models, based on historical prescription data. This analysis also evaluates the plausibility of the forecasts.
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