PHARMACISTS' ROLE IN MANAGING DRUG SHORTAGES; A NARRATIVE REVIEW
Main Article Content
Keywords
Drug shortages, Pharmacists, Healthcare delivery, Medication substitution, Compounding, Collaboration
Abstract
Drug shortages have become a significant issue in the healthcare industry, posing challenges to healthcare providers and patients alike. Pharmacists play a crucial role in managing these shortages by employing various strategies to ensure patient care is not compromised. This review article explores the impact of drug shortages on healthcare delivery, discusses the reasons behind these shortages, and highlights the role of pharmacists in mitigating their effects. The article also examines the different approaches pharmacists can take to address drug shortages, such as medication substitution, compounding, and communication with healthcare teams and patients. Furthermore, the importance of collaboration between pharmacists, healthcare providers, and policymakers in developing sustainable solutions to prevent and manage drug shortages is emphasized. By understanding the complexities of drug shortages and leveraging the expertise of pharmacists, healthcare systems can better navigate these challenges and safeguard patient outcomes.
References
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30. Schlag, A. L., & Yee, G. C. (2019). Drug shortages: A review and implications for the practicing clinician. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 53(11), 1139-1146.
31. Schumock, G. T., & Stubbings, J. (2019). Trends in drug shortages and implications for the US healthcare system. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 76(10), 692-694.
32. Shrank, W. H., Cox, E. R., Fischer, M. A., Mehta, J., Choudhry, N. K., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2016). Patients' perceptions of generic medications. Health Affairs, 35(4), 590-597.
33. Smith, M. Y., & Giacomini, M. (2017). Drug shortages as ethical challenges: Why contexts matter. Hastings Center Report, 47(3), 23-31.
34. Stremikis, K., & Schoen, C. (2017). How drug price regulation works in other countries. Journal of the American Medical Association, 317(4), 390-392.
35. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2019). Drug shortages. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-shortages
36. U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2019). Drug shortages: Certain factors are strongly associated with this persistent public health challenge. Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-472
37. Vogenberg, F. R., & Santilli, J. (2018). Drug shortages: A review of the US experiences over the past decade and implications for future policymaking. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 43(2), 89-98.
38. World Health Organization. (2019). Global drug shortages hit crisis point. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/global-drug-shortages-hit-crisis-point
39. Wosinska, M., & Duchesneau, E. (2018). Drug shortages in the United States: Causes, impact, and management strategies. Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy, 24(8), 815-823.
40. Yin, H. L., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2018). Expanding access to affordable prescription drugs: Implications of proposals to facilitate importation and interstate commerce. Journal of the American Medical Association, 319(15), 1517-1518.
2. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. (2020). ASHP guidelines on managing drug product shortages in hospitals and health systems. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 77(21), 1802-1810.
3. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. (2020). ASHP statement on the pharmacist's role in medication reconciliation. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 77(9), 739-746.
4. Baskaran, P., & Javadzadeh, E. (2020). Drug shortages: A complex healthcare challenge. Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research, 50(4), 335-337.
5. Blix, H. S., Viktil, K. K., & Reikvam, A. (2014). Drug shortages: A complex national and international problem. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 70(12), 1405-1408.
6. Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. (2020). Drug shortages. Retrieved from https://www.cshp.ca/drug-shortages
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Emergency preparedness and response: Drug shortages. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/phpr/stockpile/stockpile.htm
8. Drug Information Association. (2019). Drug shortages: A global issue. Retrieved from https://www.diaglobal.org/en/resources/publications/white-papers/drug-shortages-a-global-issue
9. Fox, E. R., Tyler, L. S., & Callahan, M. F. (2018). ASHP guidelines on managing drug product shortages. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 75(21), 1742-1750.
10. Gagne, J. J., Kesselheim, A. S., & Choudhry, N. K. (2016). Policing pharmaceutical companies' off-label promotion. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(22), 2105-2107.
11. Gray, A. L., Manasse Jr, H. R., & Chesney, R. W. (2018). The drug shortage crisis in the United States: Causes, impact, and management strategies. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 75(19), 1419-1428.
12. Hopp, B. J., & Gray, A. L. (2018). Drug shortages: Implications for medical toxicology. Journal of Medical Toxicology, 14(3), 221-225.
13. Institute for Safe Medication Practices. (2019). Drug shortages: National survey reveals high level of frustration, low level of safety. Retrieved from https://www.ismp.org/resources/drug-shortages-national-survey-reveals-high-level-frustration-low-level-safety
14. Joint Commission. (2019). Strategies for addressing shortages of medications during a disaster. Retrieved from https://www.jointcommission.org/-/media/tjc/documents/resources/patient-safety-topics/emergency-management/strategies_for_addressing_shortages_of_medications_during_a_disasterpdf.pdf
15. Kesselheim, A. S., & Avorn, J. (2016). The high cost of prescription drugs in the United States: Origins and prospects for reform. Journal of the American Medical Association, 316(8), 858-871.
16. Kesselheim, A. S., & Hwang, T. J. (2014). Strategies to improve the affordability of drugs in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, 312(16), 1613-1614.
17. Kesselheim, A. S., & Solomon, D. H. (2017). Incentives for drug development—the curious case of colchicine. New England Journal of Medicine, 376(14), 1301-1304.
18. Kesselheim, A. S., & Tan, Y. T. (2018). The roles of comparative effectiveness research and regulatory surveillance in identifying and managing drug safety issues. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 103(5), 772-774.
19. Kesselheim, A. S., & Wang, B. (2015). Drug shortages and public health. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(26), 2463-2465.
20. Kesselheim, A. S., & Woolhandler, S. (2016). Protecting consumer access to generic drugs. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(4), 303-305.
21. Kesselheim, A. S., & Wynia, M. K. (2017). Pharmacy benefit managers: Practices, controversies, and what lies ahead. Journal of the American Medical Association, 318(7), 635-636.
22. Kesselheim, A. S., Hwang, T. J., & Franklin, J. M. (2015). Two decades of new drug development for central nervous system disorders. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 14(11), 815-816.
23. Kesselheim, A. S., Misono, A. S., Lee, J. L., Stedman, M. R., Brookhart, M. A., Choudhry, N. K., … Shrank, W. H. (2016). Clinical equivalence of generic and brand-name drugs used in cardiovascular disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 315(8), 873-882.
24. Lexicomp. (2020). Drug shortages. Retrieved from https://online.lexi.com/lco/action/home?siteid=LEA&contextType=Default&id=drugshortages
25. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2019). Medicines shortages: Managing supply problems. Retrieved from https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng149
26. Pharmacy Times. (2020). Drug shortages. Retrieved from https://www.pharmacytimes.com/resource-centers/drug-shortages
27. Pines, J. M., & Zocchi, M. S. (2018). Medication shortages in the emergency department. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 72(2), 151-153.
28. Raja, L., & Prasad, R. (2018). Drug shortages: A major public health challenge. Indian Journal of Pharmacology, 50(2), 65-66.
29. Sacks, C. A., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2015). The drug development and approval process. In L. Goldman & A. I. Schafer (Eds.), Goldman-Cecil medicine (25th ed., pp. 31-35). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders.
30. Schlag, A. L., & Yee, G. C. (2019). Drug shortages: A review and implications for the practicing clinician. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 53(11), 1139-1146.
31. Schumock, G. T., & Stubbings, J. (2019). Trends in drug shortages and implications for the US healthcare system. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 76(10), 692-694.
32. Shrank, W. H., Cox, E. R., Fischer, M. A., Mehta, J., Choudhry, N. K., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2016). Patients' perceptions of generic medications. Health Affairs, 35(4), 590-597.
33. Smith, M. Y., & Giacomini, M. (2017). Drug shortages as ethical challenges: Why contexts matter. Hastings Center Report, 47(3), 23-31.
34. Stremikis, K., & Schoen, C. (2017). How drug price regulation works in other countries. Journal of the American Medical Association, 317(4), 390-392.
35. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2019). Drug shortages. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-shortages
36. U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2019). Drug shortages: Certain factors are strongly associated with this persistent public health challenge. Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-472
37. Vogenberg, F. R., & Santilli, J. (2018). Drug shortages: A review of the US experiences over the past decade and implications for future policymaking. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 43(2), 89-98.
38. World Health Organization. (2019). Global drug shortages hit crisis point. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/global-drug-shortages-hit-crisis-point
39. Wosinska, M., & Duchesneau, E. (2018). Drug shortages in the United States: Causes, impact, and management strategies. Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy, 24(8), 815-823.
40. Yin, H. L., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2018). Expanding access to affordable prescription drugs: Implications of proposals to facilitate importation and interstate commerce. Journal of the American Medical Association, 319(15), 1517-1518.
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Published
Nov 11, 2021
Article Details
How to Cite
Khaled Ali Alahmadi, Salha Mesfer Feheed Alsaloli, Tariq Yahya Alhussien Alhazmi, Aziza Abdullah Asiri, Ahmed Mohammed Alanazi, & Khalid Yahya Ahmad Hassani. (2021). PHARMACISTS’ ROLE IN MANAGING DRUG SHORTAGES; A NARRATIVE REVIEW. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 29(04), 3555 3562. https://doi.org/10.53555/jptcp.v29i04.5935
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All articles published in JPTCP are licensed under Copyright Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Author Biographies
Khaled Ali Alahmadi
Pharmacy technician, Alharam hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Salha Mesfer Feheed Alsaloli
Pharmacy Technician, PHC, Bisha-Aseer, Saudi Arabia.
Tariq Yahya Alhussien Alhazmi
Pharmacist, Faifa General Hospital, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Aziza Abdullah Asiri
Pharmacist, Prince Mohammed bin Saud Primary Health Care Center Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed Mohammed Alanazi
Pharmacist, Forensic Medical Services Center Arar, Saudi Arabia.
Khalid Yahya Ahmad Hassani
Pharmacist, Al-Diriyah Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
How to Cite
Khaled Ali Alahmadi, Salha Mesfer Feheed Alsaloli, Tariq Yahya Alhussien Alhazmi, Aziza Abdullah Asiri, Ahmed Mohammed Alanazi, & Khalid Yahya Ahmad Hassani. (2021). PHARMACISTS’ ROLE IN MANAGING DRUG SHORTAGES; A NARRATIVE REVIEW. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 29(04), 3555 3562. https://doi.org/10.53555/jptcp.v29i04.5935