Health care workers, and anesthesia providers specifically, had likely never given much thought to supply chains until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world shut down, and we shifted our practices to emergency procedures, careful intubations, and ventilator management, our televisions were inundated with images of bare shelves in the supermarkets, with shoppers suddenly hoarding home essentials such as toilet paper and disinfectant wipes. Since that time, disruptions in the supply chain have affected consumer goods such as semiconductors, computer chips, and infant formula.
Medical devices and medications have experienced supply chain issues that existed before the tumult of the last several years. A national shortage of propofol occurred in 2010 that caused anesthesia providers to quickly shift to alternate induction agents. This shortage was attributed to two major problems. The first was manufacturer hesitancy to make drugs with high liability risk, following a court ruling that held...