Propofol Shortage Beginning to Show–One Hospital Using Etomidate Which Is Difficult to Regulate and Can Be Painful

I had quite a reads on this post today, link below so I went back to take a look and here’s one anonymous comment from the website at the source stating his hospital in the Midwest is out of both Sodium Pentathol and Propofol and has been for months.

To fill the void an older drug, Etomidate is being used and you can read his comments below on how the anesthesiologists are not happy about it as he states it can be painful going in. BD

Teva To Stop Manufacturing Propofol – With No US Manufacturers Left FDA Approved Import From Europe

I don’t know why sodium Sodium pentathol is in short supply but common sense tells me it could be due to the fact that propofol is in short supply and the demand has increased to fill the gaps. BD

Anesthesia Drug Shortage Confirmation: I would like to confirm the shortage in anesthesia drugs. The hospital where I work in the Midwest has been out of Sodium Pentathol and Propofol for months. Both these drugs are used to induce general anesthesia. Propofol is also used for conscious sedation. Propofol was the first to go. The official story is that the manufacturer, Teva, stopped making it. more

“The drug is hard to manufacture and the company gets little or no profit from it, said Denise Bradley, a spokeswoman for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. The company had to halt production and recall some of the drug last year because of manufacturing issues, and it is facing a raft of propofol-related civil lawsuits.

Sodium pentathol might be used as an alternative for general anesthesia, but right now it's extremely hard to get. He said the problem is that many of these drugs are made by few companies, or only one company, so they are hard to replace when supply problems strike”

They are now using a drug called etomidate. It is an older drug that works (sort of) but it is sometimes very painful going in. I’ve seen the anesthesiologists curse and swear with this drug because it is much harder to intubate or use this drug for conscious sedation or general anesthesia safely.

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