In the past 10 years, an increasing number of drug shortages have resulted in tremendous frustration among practitioners who want only the best treatment for their patients but who cannot always depend that the best drugs for that treatment will be available when needed. Penicillin G, dexamethasone, fentanyl, ketamine, and propofol are only a few that have been back-ordered recently. Why does this occur, and how can it be fixed? Like cancer, the causes are multifactorial, and the cures may be just as elusive.
The propofol shortage resulted from 2 major problems. The first involved an unjust, ridiculous medical-legal verdict involving