New Zealand: A crucial drug, ‘Adrenaline’, known to save the day during life-threatening allergic reactions and heart attacks, is going out of stock, causing panic amongst medics.
Wellington-based Mayne Pharma, New Zealand's sole supplier is facing a problem with its German manufacturers. This has led to the interruption in the supply of this drug to New Zealand.Hospitals in New Zealand, hope to tide over this situation by resorting to supplies of an equivalent drug from America. However, medics say that the alternative drug imported from the United States, is not a registered drug in New Zealand, which may pose a problem during emergency situations.
Blaming the government for not having enough fall-back options, for life-saving supplies and services, Medical Association Chairman Ross Boswell said, "We should have a considerable margin of safety for patients."
Boswell was also worried that the US substitute for adrenaline, named "Epinephrine", could cause some delays during emergencies. "In an emergency situation, medical staff may not immediately recognize that the ampoules provided are indeed adrenalin, and treatment may be delayed," he said.
Source-Medindia
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