Eight in 10 hospitals and pharmacists rationing drugs or delaying care because of crippling medicine shortages - including for cancer

Up to eight in 10 hospitals and pharmacists are rationing drugs or delaying appointments as they battle a crippling medicine shortage, a report suggests. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, a group that tracks US drug availability, surveyed more than 1,000 pharmacists and 99 percent said they were struggling to stock enough of the drugs they needed. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists surveyed more than 1,000 pharmacists and 99 percent said they were struggling to stock enough of the drugs they needed The healthcare professionals surveyed stressed the shortages were impacting patient care, with one-third of pharmacists saying the shortages were critically impactful, and more than half, 57 percent, saying they were facing critical shortages of chemotherapy drugs specifically. One-third of pharmacists said the shortages were critically impactful, and more than half, 57 percent, said they were facing critical shortages of chemotherapy drugs specifically Due to the shortages, healthcare providers are forced to make difficult choices, including delaying a patient’s treatment Eighty-five percent began rationing drugs and 42 percent said they were forced to cancel or delay treatments and procedures because they did not have access to the necessary drugs. ‘Pharmacists in hospitals and health systems are working diligently with other clinicians to provide safe and effective care, despite ongoing drug shortages, by finding needed medications, identifying substitutes, and managing changes to treatment plans when required.