A shortage of a liquid dosage of the asthma medication albuterol used in hospitals is set to worsen after the recent bankruptcy of its manufacturer, Akorn Pharmaceuticals, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday.
A hospital’s nebulizer machine turns liquid albuterol into a mist that is inhaled by the asthmatic patient. The shortage of the product began in October.
Nephron Pharmaceuticals, the only other manufacturer of hospital-use liquid albuterol, makes a smaller product.
Nephron began shipping out orders of its albuterol Feb. 24, Paula Gurz, the senior director of pharmacy contracting at hospital group medicine purchase company Premier Inc., told CNN.
Akorn filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, let go all employees and closed all of its physical locations Feb. 22.
In a series of tweets, the FDA emphasized that personal albuterol inhalers and most other forms of the product were not affected.
The FDA also said that it was exploring a bevy of options, including temporarily allowing the import of foreign-made doses of albuterol.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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