WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) formation of a new Drug Shortage Task Force as requested by Congress, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and several other physician specialty groups, Paul Kivela, MD, FACEP, president of ACEP released the following statement: 

“On behalf of the nation’s emergency physicians, I want to thank FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD for his leadership and quick action. Today’s announcement is a major step toward solving the complex and severe, and persistent drug shortage issue in the United States.

“In May, ACEP worked with Congressional champions to develop a letter to the FDA calling for the creation of a new Drug Shortage Task Force with stakeholders and other relevant federal departments to determine the root causes of drug shortages and develop recommendations for Congress.  With the help of emergency physician advocates, the bipartisan letter to Commissioner Gottlieb was signed by more than a hundred members of the House of Representatives and more than thirty members of the Senate and led directly to the creation to today’s action by the FDA. ACEP commends the leadership of Representatives Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Senators Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT).

“Drug shortages affect patients and can have serious and even catastrophic consequences.  We recognize that there are many different factors that contribute to drug shortages, and we need a better understanding of how these factors interact with one another and to what degree they affect shortages.”

Nine in 10 emergency physicians responding to a recent poll said that they have recently experienced shortages or absences of critical medicines in their emergency departments. Additionally, more than four in 10 reports that because of this, patients have had negative outcomes. To read the Congressional letter to Commissioner Gottlieb, please click here.