Federal law would allow hospitals to ‘repackage” drugs to avoid shortages

A bill overwhelmingly passed by the U.S. Senate last week aims to address growing concerns about drug shortages by allowing hospitals to “repackage” medication into multiple doses (Source: “Congress tackling medicine shortages,” Columbus Dispatch, May 30, 2012).

The bill, which passed by a 96-1 vote, also would require pharmaceutical manufacturers to alert the FDA of impending drug shortages.

Calling drug shortages a “national crisis," Dr. Michael Grever, chairman of internal medicine at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, said, “We’ve been too often stymied by drug shortages that prevent us from being able to effectively treat patients who may all need the same drug,”