Ventilators are in short supply. So are medications for coronavirus patients using them.
Hospitals are running low on pretty much everything they need to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shortages of ventilators to treat severe coronavirus cases and masks to protect health care workers have been widely publicized, prompting companies to switch gears and start producing those needed supplies. But medications necessary for treating patients on ventilators are also in short supply, and it's getting harder and harder to get those prescriptions filled, Stat News reports.
Patients on ventilators are given a mixture of sedatives, anesthetics, painkillers, and muscle relaxants "to help manage patient pain and comfort levels so they can benefit from mechanical ventilation," Stat writes. So as coronavirus cases rose throughout March, there was a 51 percent jump in demand for six commonly used sedatives and anesthetics. But at the same time, the rate at which those prescriptions are filled and given to hospitals dropped from 100 percent to just 63 percent by March 24, per Stat.
Painkillers, including hydromorphone, fentanyl, and morphine, saw a 67 percent increase in demand during March, but their fill rate dropped from 82 percent to 77 percent. And demand for four common neuromuscular blockers rose 39 percent while the fill rate fell to 70 percent, Stat notes.
These shortages have a variety of causes. Major pharmaceutical company Pfizer said it's experiencing manufacturing delays, while some had stopped making those now-necessary drugs altogether. Erin Fox, who tracks drug shortages at the University of Utah Health Care, told Stat it's likely manufacturers haven't been "ramping up production for the surge." Coupled with import and production stoppages from India and China, it's all adding up to a deadly situation. Read more at Stat News.
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