Logo

Log In Sign Up |  An official publication of: American College of Emergency Physicians
Navigation
  • Home
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • Clinical
    • Airway Managment
    • Case Reports
    • Critical Care
    • Guidelines
    • Imaging & Ultrasound
    • Pain & Palliative Care
    • Pediatrics
    • Resuscitation
    • Trauma & Injury
  • Resource Centers
    • mTBI Resource Center
  • Career
    • Practice Management
      • Benchmarking
      • Reimbursement & Coding
      • Care Team
      • Legal
      • Operations
      • Quality & Safety
    • Awards
    • Certification
    • Compensation
    • Early Career
    • Education
    • Leadership
    • Profiles
    • Retirement
    • Work-Life Balance
  • Columns
    • ACEP4U
    • Airway
    • Benchmarking
    • Brief19
    • By the Numbers
    • Coding Wizard
    • EM Cases
    • End of the Rainbow
    • Equity Equation
    • FACEPs in the Crowd
    • Forensic Facts
    • From the College
    • Images in EM
    • Kids Korner
    • Medicolegal Mind
    • Opinion
      • Break Room
      • New Spin
      • Pro-Con
    • Pearls From EM Literature
    • Policy Rx
    • Practice Changers
    • Problem Solvers
    • Residency Spotlight
    • Resident Voice
    • Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency Medicine
    • Sound Advice
    • Special OPs
    • Toxicology Q&A
    • WorldTravelERs
  • Resources
    • ACEP.org
    • ACEP Knowledge Quiz
    • Issue Archives
    • CME Now
    • Annual Scientific Assembly
      • ACEP14
      • ACEP15
      • ACEP16
      • ACEP17
      • ACEP18
      • ACEP19
    • Annals of Emergency Medicine
    • JACEP Open
    • Emergency Medicine Foundation
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Medical Editor in Chief
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Awards
    • Authors
    • Article Submission
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright Information

The Explanation for Drug Shortages

By David F. Baehren, M.D. | on May 1, 2012 | 0 Comment
Opinion
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Print-Friendly Version

A caravan of trucks traveled up I-75 carrying precious goods. As the colossal collection of cargo approached the scenic Maumee River near Toledo, the lead driver failed to realize that traffic had slowed to a pace only seen during the cleaning of empty hospital rooms. Being from out of town, he was unaware of the stampede to the local convention center to receive free cell phones from the federal government. The traffic had backed up for a quarter mile. With nothing left to do, he down-shifted and pushed with all his might on the brake pedal. Soon enough the 18-wheeler jack-knifed and the rest of the caravan followed suit. Before anyone could dial 911 on a free phone, five tractor-trailers plunged into the river. EMS and Coast Guard arrived quickly. They navigated the swift current to reach the jumble of rubber and steel. Miraculously, the drivers survived, but the cargo of essential intravenous medications descended to the murky depths of the dredged waterway.

You Might Also Like
  • Emergency Departments Need Plan to Deal with Drug Shortages
  • Emergency Physicians Encouraged to Draw Attention to Pharmaceutical Drug Shortages
  • FDA Launches Mobile App to Alert Public About Drug Shortages
Explore This Issue
ACEP News: Vol 31 – No 05 – May 2012

Fish on the downstream side began to act strangely. The lidocaine was absorbed first, causing many to have seizures. Or possibly they were just swimming fast. In the commotion, it was hard to tell. Luckily, there was plenty of ondansetron to prevent postictal vomiting. Unfortunately, the fish absorbed the furosemide next. Between the seizing and all the micturation, those fish didn’t know up from down. Plus, they couldn’t find the “peeing” section of the river. To make matters worse, the labetalol began to work and wiped out what little blood pressure was left after the furosemide. As the etomidate was absorbed into the listless pisces, they turned belly up and drifted to Lake Erie, where their remains were eventually eaten by the bottom-feeding lawyer fish.

The big winners in the whole mess were the upstream carp, who managed to salvage the unbroken bottles of etomidate. They hope that when the government decides to give away electric cars, a truck carrying syringes and needles will crash in a similar fashion.

Meanwhile, on land, hospitals across the Midwest experienced shortages of all these drugs. Pharmacists hastily developed rationing plans and squeezed every supplier for their last vials. When interviewed, hospital administrators vacationing in Mexico were quick to point out that there was a special on etomidate at the Walmart in Puerto Vallarta and they were flabbergasted by all the fuss. Several promised that they would check into the situation after finishing their piña coladas.

Pages: 1 2 | Single Page

Topics: CommentaryEmergency MedicineEmergency PhysicianIn the ArenaPharmaceuticalsPractice Trends

Related

  • EM Runs in the Family

    February 26, 2025 - 0 Comment
  • 2024–2025 Emergency Physician Compensation Report

    September 6, 2024 - 4 Comments
  • 2023–2024 Emergency Physician Compensation Report

    August 29, 2023 - 0 Comment

Current Issue

ACEP Now: July 2025

Download PDF

Read More

No Responses to “The Explanation for Drug Shortages”

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*
*

Wiley
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertise
  • Cookie Preferences
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 2333-2603