Anesthetic Shortage In Hospitals

H O U S T O N, March 12 -- Carla Fakhoury had a 10-pound, 10-ounce baby by Caesarean section at Methodist Hospital Medical Center in Houston, Texas, last week.

Three hours later she was able to smile because doctors gave her fentanyl, a popular painkiller given to women after childbirth. It is the principle anesthetic agent in hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers throughout the country.

But a nationwide shortage of fentanyl has caused some hospitals to reschedule surgeries, and an anesthesiology association is calling for a government investigation into the shortage.

“We don’t want to assign blame, we want to be able to set up a system to prevent the shortage from happening again,” said Denise Jones, spokeswoman for the American Society of Anesthesiologists in Park Ridge, Ill.

Hospitals in Minnesota, Illinois, Washington state, Michigan, Mississippi, Connecticut, Tennessee, Arizona and Texas are reporting critical shortages of the drug, Jones said.

Hospitals Set Priorities

Although Fakhoury was lucky enough to get the fetanyl, Methodist and other hospitals have tried to substitute other anesthetics because of the shortage. But many of these drugs are longer acting, or cause nausea. These side effects can lengthen recovery time.

“They had a longer stay in what we call the PACU, the recovery area, before they could go home,” explained Cathy Faw, a pharmacist at the hospital.

For outpatient use, the hospital used fentanyl, but carefully apportioned it.

“[We’re] just essentially rationing it,” said Lois Nash, Methodist pharmacy director. “It was quite a difficult situation for several months.”

At Methodist, surgeries were not postponed because the physicians worked closely with the pharmacy to set priorities, according to anesthesiologist Dr. Patrick Giam.

But other hospitals throughout the nation are experiencing shortages, Jones said.

“There is a lot of speculation about what caused the shortage, but we are not sure,” Jones said.