Drug Shortages in Obstetrics

Purpose of Review This review highlights the patient safety and practice management concerns surrounding drug shortages in obstetric anesthesiology. Given the lack of evidence-based strategies for managing shortages, this review was created to provide societal consensus suggestions and practical guidance to assist clinicians in creating safe systems for medication administration in the obstetric unit. Recent Findings Drug shortages occur for a variety of reasons but may pose significant risk to patients as they may be more likely to receive suboptimal therapy or even experience harm due to medication errors. Minimizing the potential patient harm that may occur on the obstetric floor secondary to drug shortages requires a rigorous and time-consuming multi-disciplinary approach to ensure unit organization and provider education. Standardization of medications, pharmacy preparation of medications, conservation strategies, contingency planning, bar-coding technology, and effective communication to end users are all necessary components to creating a safe system for patients.