It’s another day in the O.R. with another day of surprises. Lately, however, the revelations aren’t the medical complexities of the patient or the cause of O.R. delay (never anesthesia, of course). For too long, the primary question has been, “what medications will I not have available today?” Further questions related to the ethics of drug shortages subconsciously arise, and these questions will be answered in this article.
How did the United States get into this chaos? ASA has a variety of information available to answer this question, so a discussion of the how is not part of this article. Suffice it to say, it’s complex and multifactorial, and a solution will not be coming any time soon. Complicating the baseline challenges are unexpected events such as Hurricane Maria, which led to a number of facilities becoming unable to produce products. Puerto Rico, one of the world’s largest centers for...
