Reporting Drug Shortages is Critical to their Rapid Resolution

The Cost of Drug Shortages: Approximately a Half a Billion Dollars Annually

  • From a Vizient Report: The increased cost of labor is real. Health system and hospital pharmacies are allocating significant time and money to seek ways to gain product access, find strategies to work around drug shortages and prepare for continued impacts in the future. In addition to the quantifiable costs that are far beyond the pharmacies’ budgets, there are significant hidden costs — such as spend on additional staffing, loss of revenue due to delayed or cancelled procedures, staff overtime and updating technology. In review of more than 6,000 hospitals across the U.S., it’s estimated that drug shortages are costing facilities at least $359 million per year in additional spend on labor alone.
  • From an Annals of Internal Medicine Report: Study found that prices for drugs under shortage increased more than twice as quickly as they would in the absence of a shortage adding $230 million a year to U.S. drug costs.
  • Combined, drug shortages reportedly contribute to over a half a billion dollars in increased costs.
Read a recent article Report | Drug Shortages: Root Causes and Portential Solutions from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

Read a recent national drug shortage report from the American Society of Health Pharmacists (ASHP).

ASHP Foundation Pharmacy Forecast 2021: Strategic Planning Advice for Pharmacy Departments in Hospitals and Health Systems

Reporting Drug Shortages to FDA
Contact CDER Drug Shortages by email: drugshortages@fda.hhs.gov
Contact CDER Drug Shortages by phone: (240) 402-7770

Reporting to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP)
Use the Society's Drug Product Shortages Report form (non-FDA site).
When you use this form, you are reporting a drug shortage to ASHP, not FDA.
CDER partners with ASHP to minimize drug shortages and to report rapid, accurate drug shortage information.

Reporting Shortages of Other Products to FDA Biological and related products including blood, vaccines, tissue, allergenics

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER)
Email:CBERshortage@fda.hhs.gov
Call: Biological product manufacturers and healthcare personnel may report a real or suspected biological product shortage by calling 240-402-8380.
Food additives and drugs that will be given to animals Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM)
Email: CVMHomeP@CVM.fda.gov

Medical devices and radiation-emitting products
Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH)
Email: dice@cdrh.fda.gov
Call: 1-800-638-2041

Key Forms
Access Civica's Vendor Code of Conduct form and 2019 Form 990 here.

Code of Business Conduct
Access Civica's Code of Conduct form here.
Current ASHP Drug Shortage List
Read more about the ASHP drug shortage list.