Trends in United States Drug Shortages for Medications Used in Gastroenterology

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Introduction Drug shortages have become more severe in recent years; however, data describing how such shortages impact gastroenterology (GI) drugs are limited. We characterize longitudinal trends of drug shortages in the USA within the scope of GI practice. Methods Drug shortage data from the University of Utah Drug Information Service were analyzed from January 2001 to December 2014. A board certified gastroenterologist, an internal medicine physician, and a clinical pharmacist identified drug shortages within the scope of GI practice, whether they are used for high-acuity conditions, availability, formulation, or therapeutic category. Trends in the length of shortages for GI drugs were described using standard descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Results A total of 1,774 drug shortages were reported over the 14-year period. Of those, 253 shortages (14.3%) were classified within the scope of GI practice. The number of newly-reported GI drug shortages increased from 15 in 2001 to 44 in 2014. The majority of GI drugs (55.7%) were parenteral and 102 shortages (40.3%) were single source drugs. By the end of the study period, 44 (17.4%) GI drugs remained on active shortage with a median duration of 24.3 months (interquartile range [IQR] 6.9–32.1). The median duration for resolved shortages of GI drugs was 7.7 months (IQR 2.9–17.6). Conclusions There was a significant increase in shortages of drugs used in GI practice from 2001 to 2014. Many of these drugs were used for high-acuity conditions and alternative agents were also impacted. Gastroenterologists must be cognizant of current shortages in order to mitigate impact on patient care.