Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Beyond Ventilator And Mask Shortages: High Demand For Drugs To Ease Breathing Difficulties Pose A Looming Threat
The New York Times: Essential Drug Supplies For Virus Patients Are Running Low
Across the country, as hospitals confront a harrowing surge in coronavirus cases, they are also beginning to report shortages of critical medications — especially those desperately needed to ease the disease’s assault on patients’ respiratory systems. The most commonly reported shortages include drugs that are used to keep patients’ airways open, antibiotics, antivirals and sedatives. They are all part of a standard cocktail of medications that help patients on mechanical ventilators, control secondary lung infections, reduce fevers, manage pain and resuscitate those who go into cardiac arrest. (Sheikh, 4/2)
ABC News: US Faces Shortage Of Drugs That Could Be Possible Treatments For Coronavirus: FDA
Barbi Manchester has lived with Lupus for 13 years and has taken hydroxychloroquine to treat it for just as long. But last month, for the first time since being prescribed the medication, she had trouble getting her prescription filled. (Tatum, 4/3)
In other shortages —
Kaiser Health News: As The Country Disinfects, Diabetes Patients Can’t Find Rubbing Alcohol
While the masses hunt for toilet paper, Caroline Gregory and other people with diabetes are on a different mission: scouring stores for the rubbing alcohol or alcohol swabs needed to manage their disease. Gregory stopped in Carlie C’s, Dollar General and then Harris Teeter in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in pursuit of this vital component of her medical routine. “We’re all supposed to be staying at home, and I’m out going to 10 different stores,” said Gregory, 33, whose diabetes could heighten her risk for COVID-19 complications. “That’s also not safe.” (Weber, 4/3)
