New Zealand Runs Low on Heart Bypass Drug
May 25, 2006 by Lei
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
New Zealand, Australia, Britain, and parts of the Asia-Pacific region are facing a shortage of protamine sulphate, a drug used in open heart surgery among other medical treatments. New Zealand was down to just a few weeks’ worth of the drug and none were to be delivered until September. This would mean that all elective heart bypass surgery would have to be postponed so that protamine could be reserved for emergencies.
Fortunately, manufacturers in the US and Europe pitched in to help supply protamine this time. But it probably won’t be the last time insufficient supplies of critical drugs will occur.
Supply problems were a global issue, she [Artex chief executive Jude Henry] said. “A lot of pharmaceutical manufacturers are closing down, a lot are being taken over and they find they have accepted orders that are more than they can cope with. It’s a really tough time.”
There certainly seems to be a variety of issues plaguing pharmaceutical industries right now. Supply and demand is teetering on a hair and we’re suffering the consequences.
Speaking of open heart surgery, here’s a humorous picture from the Western Maryland Health System when they surpassed 600 open heart surgeries in 2003. The medical team is with patient Kenneth Blizzard (the one with a big red heart on his chest).
stuff.co.nz, May 25, 2006
Technorati Tags: open heart surgery, heart, heart disease, disease, health, cardiovascular disease, new zealand, protamine, pharmaceutical companies, pharma
