September 22, 2023 – As respiratory virus season approaches, the shortage of amoxicillin that began last fall remains to be not resolved.
Most manufacturers of the drug haven’t yet disclosed the reason behind the shortage or why it persists, a gaggle of doctors reported in an August report Research report published within the magazine Pediatrics. The powder type of amoxicillin is used to make liquid versions of the drug, which are sometimes given to children, who often cannot swallow tablets.
Researchers found that the likelihood of a toddler being prescribed amoxicillin fell by 91% after the deficiency was discovered.
The study compared how children were treated for ear infections before and after the onset of amoxicillin deficiency. 3,076 children took part within the study. All children were treated in a single health system and the typical age was 3 years. The authors stated that they selected to review ear infections since it is essentially the most commonly treated childhood illness with antibiotics and amoxicillin is a first-line treatment.
“When we see these sharp increases in respiratory illnesses, ear infections and everything that comes with the winter months over the last year or two, the demand really exceeds what our supply chains can produce. As a result, shortages are occurring across the country and impacting our patients,” said researcher Rohan Khazanchi, MD, MPH, a pediatrician and resident at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston CNN.
The start of flu season is just a couple of weeks away. Respiratory viruses usually are not treated with antibiotics. But these viruses often cause secondary problems like ear infections, pneumonia or sinus infections, which reply to antibiotics, based on one Information sheet for parents That was published last fall by the American Academy of Pediatrics when the shortage began.
The nationwide shortage of amoxicillin was announced by the FDA in late October 2022. The American Academy of Pediatrics really helpful that prescribers use alternatives similar to split amoxicillin tablets or capsules, use second-line alternatives, or just use “watchful waiting.” The current study found that there was no increase in watchful waiting on the health system involved within the investigation.
“What concerns us is the generalizability of this problem,” Khazanchi said, based on CNN. “It’s not about amoxicillin; It’s about the fact that there are shortages of reasonably essential medicines that are generic and should be widely available.”
One manufacturer, a division of Novartis called Sandoz, told CNN that low prices were driving manufacturers out of the market. Another drugmaker, Teva Pharmaceuticals, cited a surge in demand because the reason behind the shortage, based on CNN.
In an announcement, the FDA noted that it “does not make drugs and cannot require a pharmaceutical company to make a drug, make more of it, or change how a drug is distributed,” CNN reported. “The public can be assured that FDA is working closely with numerous manufacturers, regulators and others in the supply chain to understand, mitigate, and prevent or reduce the impact of temporary or increased demand for certain products.”
The authors of the research study said the FDA should consider doing more to handle the situation.
“Drug shortages have an immediate and widespread impact on prescribing habits and should be monitored and intervened by regulators, policymakers and health systems alike,” they wrote. “The FDA should consider increased oversight of essential medicines, requiring disclosure of supply problems and incentivizing the production of antibiotics to offset their low profitability.”