Many Missouri hospitals are reporting shortages of necessary pharmaceutical drugs. The Missouri Hospital Association says such shortages are keeping hospitals from effectively delivering care in a safe and timely way to its patients.
On Thursday the Missouri Hospital Association released the results of a survey completed of 53 of the state’s acute-care hospitals. The association found 82 percent of the facilities said they had daily shortages and 17 percent cited weekly shortages.
MHA Spokesperson Dave Dillon for the Missouri Hospital Association says hospitals have to find ways to replace or formulate drugs for those they have limited access to.
“They're also critical to what we do in our business. And so it is a big disruption for the continuity of care in a hospital when we don’t have access to those,” Dillon said.
The drug shortages included ones that are used in surgery anesthesia, emergency care, intravenous nutrition and chemotherapy. The Food and Drug Administration has identified more than 250 pharmaceuticals in limited supply nationwide.
