Home Health Medics told to ration life-saving ‘bread-and-butter medicine’ used to help asthma patients breathe amid UK-wide shortage

Medics told to ration life-saving ‘bread-and-butter medicine’ used to help asthma patients breathe amid UK-wide shortage

by Alexander
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Shortages of the liquid form of salbutamol are expected to last until mid-April 2024, according to the safety alert (stock image)
  • The life-saving asthma drug is expected to be in short supply until mid-April
  • Hospitals asked not to wait until supplies are exhausted before placing orders

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Doctors have been asked to ration a life-saving drug used to treat severe cases of asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.

A UK-wide shortage of the liquid form of salbutamol, used to keep patients alive who cannot breathe without medical intervention, has hit NHS hospitals.

The medicine, delivered as a fine spray through a special medical mask called nebulizers, relaxes the muscles involved in breathing and reopens a patient’s airways.

Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England issued a “safety critical” national warning issued on February 26 that 2.5mg and 5mg dose vials of salbutamol liquid are in short supply.

The shortage is expected to last until mid-April 2024, according to the announcement.

Shortages of the liquid form of salbutamol are expected to last until mid-April 2024, according to the safety alert (stock image)

Shortages of the liquid form of salbutamol are expected to last until mid-April 2024, according to the safety alert (stock image)

Hospitals have been told to ‘place urgent orders for unlicensed imports of salbutamol nebuliser liquid’ and not ‘wait for supplies to be exhausted’ before ordering more.

The warning also called on doctors to ‘wean all patients off nebulisers as soon as their condition is stabilised’.

A specialist pulmonologist who regularly dispenses the drug to patients who need it to breathe said The Guardian that the situation was worrying.

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“This is a life-saving drug that is the bread-and-butter drug we use when patients with severe breathing problems are acutely unwell,” they said.

The unnamed doctor added that they have been told by bosses to use the drug ‘sparingly’ and only when necessary.

Supply problems with the life-saving drug are caused by a combination of production issues and medical systems struggling for remaining stock, the warning said.

Other drugs that work in a similar way remain available, but officials warned that those supplies cannot keep up with increased demand, the warning added.

Salbutamol is a reliever medicine used to open a patient’s airways and calm inflammation in the short term, according to the charity Asthma and Lung UK.

Only the liquid version of the drug, sold under the brand name Ventolin and used in nebulizers, is affected by the shortage.

Salbutamol inhalers, which are usually blue in color and are used by patients with lung conditions such as asthma to use if they experience shortness of breath, are unaffected.

The charity Asthma and Lung UK reassured users of the salbutamol nebulizer on its website that there are alternatives for patients.

Only the liquid version of the drug, sold under the brand name Ventolin and used in nebulizers, is affected by the shortage

Only the liquid version of the drug, sold under the brand name Ventolin and used in nebulizers, is affected by the shortage

Only the liquid version of the drug, sold under the brand name Ventolin and used in nebulizers, is affected by the shortage

Salbutamol is a reliever medicine that opens up your airways and calms inflammation in the short term, according to the charity Asthma and Lung UK

Salbutamol is a reliever medicine that opens up your airways and calms inflammation in the short term, according to the charity Asthma and Lung UK

Salbutamol is a reliever medicine that opens up your airways and calms inflammation in the short term, according to the charity Asthma and Lung UK

It said: “Nebuliser liquid from other countries that have similar high standards for UK licenses will also be made available.”

Medicine shortages were said to be putting lives at risk earlier this year when data showed 106 commonly taken medicines were out of stock across the UK in January.

Over the past two years, supply problems have hit crucial antibiotics and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), as well as type 2 diabetes, cancer drugs and a treatment to control epileptic seizures.

Experts warned that supply problems are forcing some patients to switch to other brands and, in extreme cases, leaving cancer patients without drugs needed to control the spread of their disease.

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