- The life-saving asthma drug is expected to be in short supply until mid-April
- Hospitals are being told not to wait until supplies run out before placing orders
Doctors have been told to ration a life-saving drug used to treat severe cases of asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.
A shortage in Britain of the liquid form of salbutamol, used to keep patients alive without medical intervention, has hit NHS hospitals.
The drug, administered as a fine spray through a special medical mask called a nebulizer, relaxes the muscles involved in breathing, helping to reopen a patient’s airways.
Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England issued a ‘safety critical’ national alert on February 26 that there is a shortage of 2.5mg and 5mg salbutamol liquid vials.
The shortages are expected to continue until mid-April 2024, the report shows.
According to the safety alert, shortages of the liquid form of salbutamol are expected to last until mid-April 2024 (stock image)
Hospitals have been told to ‘place urgent orders for the unlicensed import of salbutamol nebulizer’ and not to ‘wait for supplies to run out’ before ordering new ones.
The warning also urged doctors to “wean all patients off nebulizers once their condition has stabilized.”
A specialized pulmonologist who regularly distributes the drug to patients who need it to breathe, said The guard that the situation was worrying.
“This is a life-saving medicine that is the basic medicine we use when patients with severe respiratory problems feel acutely unwell,” they said.
The unnamed doctor added that bosses have told them to use the drug “sparingly” and only when necessary.
Supply problems of the life-saving drug have been caused by a combination of production problems and medical systems scrambling to find remaining supplies, the alert said.
Other drugs that work in a similar way remain available, but officials warned that these supplies cannot keep pace with increased demand, the warning added.
Salbutamol is a relief medication used to open a patient’s airways and calm inflammation in the short term, according to the charity Asthma and Lung UK.
Only the liquid version of the drug, sold under the brand name Ventolin and used in nebulizers, is affected by the shortage.
Salbutamol inhalers, which are usually colored blue and are used by patients with lung conditions such as asthma, to use when they become short of breath, are unaffected.
The charity Asthma and Lung UK assured users of the salbutamol nebulizer on its website that alternatives are available for patients.
Only the liquid version of the drug, sold under the brand name Ventolin and used in nebulizers, is affected by the shortage
Salbutamol is a relief medicine that opens your airways and calms inflammation in the short term, according to the charity Asthma and Lung UK
It said: ‘Nebulizer fluid from other countries that have similar high licensing standards to Great Britain will also be made available.’
Medicine shortages were said to be putting lives at risk earlier this year as data showed 106 commonly used drugs were out of stock in Britain in January.
Over the past two years, supply problems have affected crucial antibiotics and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), as well as type 2 diabetes, cancer drugs and a treatment for controlling seizures.
Experts warned that supply problems are forcing some patients to switch to other brands, leaving cancer patients in extreme cases without the need for drugs to control the spread of their disease.
