Is ANYONE able to order medications right now?

[FiremanMike]

My supplier has been backordered on several meds (including calcium chloride and now epi 1:10,000) for awhile now.

Are there any suppliers that have this stuff in stock?

 

[NomadicMedic]

I ordered Epi 1:10 in June and just got it.

 

[Ensihoitaja]

We’ve been getting extra 1:1000 Epi and 10 mL saline vials to mix 1:10 since May or June, I think.

 

[DesertMedic66]

We were on back order for Epi 1:10 for about a month or two back in sept. But we have been getting shipments in of all meds with any real issue that I am aware of.

 

[luke_31]

Valium has been on back order for us for a while. We are supposed to be getting Ativan to replace in but it hasn't come through the approval pipeline yet, then again neither has the hypertonic saline we are supposed to be carrying too. If we can't get Valium it's safe to say there are serious issues on the manufacturing end.

 

[RocketMedic]

We carry epi multi dose vials and draw from a bag of NS to dilute. Works well. Valium is reported to be short. Saline is a challenge.

 

[NomadicMedic]

No dopamine at my place.

 

[Peak]

We are running low on all kinds of drugs and medications, and so have numerous other hospital systems and agencies around us. We have almost no 50 and 100 mL saline bags, have pretty much ran out of valium, and are running out of dilaudid (not going to complain about that one). We or our pharmacy mixes almost all of our own drips including pressors but of course we are running out of sterile water... so that has become a special treat.

My hospital is the redheaded step child of a very large system and we are having difficulty buying meds and supplies, so I thinks its truly a matter of it not not being out on the market place. I'm not looking forward to when my agency buys our summer supplies in a couple of months, its going to be a very painful experience.

 

[Bullets]

So all the epi is in St Thomas. When i was down there in November they had a closet full of Epi. We took a bunch home with us since we didnt have nearly as much at home.

Otherwise we havent really had any issues not having essentials. Some secondary drugs are running low

 

[PotatoMedic]

Where I'm at, we're making 1:10 kits.

 

[Tigger]

Calcium, 1:10 Epi prefills, any sort of saline in bags, and Valium. We've started carrying Ativan and pretty soon I bet we start carrying multidose epi vials. Apparently flushes are safe. One of my jobs has also started carrying calcium gluconate.

 

[Ensihoitaja]

Valium has been on back order for us for a while. We are supposed to be getting Ativan to replace in but it hasn't come through the approval pipeline yet, then again neither has the hypertonic saline we are supposed to be carrying too. If we can't get Valium it's safe to say there are serious issues on the manufacturing end.

Man... we haven’t had Valium for years now!

 

[FiremanMike]

My supplier insists that the med shortages (other than saline) are all due to Pfizer acquiring hospira without the appropriate infrastructure in place to support current demand. The whole thing has been quite frustrating with no immediate end in sight.

As for saline, I received an email within the last week that the saline manufacturers were back online and that the entire saline issue would be over very soon..

 

[FiremanMike]

Oh, and any shortages of ketamine, Valium, fentanyl, and rocuronium were also caused by Pfizer but for a different reason. They decided they didn’t like the death penalty so they were going to severely limit their sales to basically any supplier that didn’t sell exclusively to hospital systems.

Their letter on this matter is still floating around the internet, I believe..