From Acute Management to Policy Solutions: A Conversation About Drug Shortages

Baxter's North Cove manufacturing facility, the largest domestic producer of large-volume parenteral (LVP) solutions, closed in September due to damage caused by Hurricane Helene. Since then, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, infusion clinics, home infusion pharmacies, and other healthcare settings have been conserving supplies and implementing shortage mitigation strategies.

Although pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have decades of experience managing shortages, major acute shortages affecting multiple essential products rarely happen so suddenly. Managing LVP product shortages requires coordination across many disciplines and departments to ensure patient care remains as optimal as possible.

Join us Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition, for a conversation about experiences, lessons learned, and safety considerations during the acute shortage of LVP solutions. ASHP’s Michael Ganio will share the latest updates about the shortages and will moderate discussions with Jason Chou from Ochsner Health, Erin Fox from University of Utah Health, and Matt Grissinger with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices.

The acute shortage of LVP fluids is an unwelcome reminder that drug shortages are an ongoing healthcare crisis in the United States and around the world. Earlier this year, drug shortages reached an all-time high of 323 active, ongoing shortages.

Congress and the White House have been drafting policies to address shortages, although new legislation has not yet been passed to fix the problem. The White House and Department of Health and Human Services published a white paper with suggested drug-shortage policies, and the Senate Committee on Finance also released draft legislation with similar proposals.

Join Ganio during the second half of the session for a moderated discussion of drug shortages featuring Fox, ASHP’s Tom Kraus, and Chandresh Harjivan, special assistant to the president on domestic preparedness and response to biological threats. The panelists will share their perspectives on how the drug shortage crisis reached a record high, the root causes of drug shortages, and lasting solutions to the problem.

The Midyear session Executive View: Leaders Discuss Drug Shortage Policy and IV Fluid Updates takes place Wednesday, Dec. 11 from 7:45 to 9:45 a.m. For up-to-date information about Midyear session times and locations, download the ASHP LIVE! App or visit the online session schedule.