National Academies Invite ASHP to Speak at Drug Shortages Workshop

Michael Ganio to Highlight ASHP's Efforts to Curb Shortages and Identify Solutions

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have invited Michael Ganio, Pharm.D., M.S., BCPS, CPHIMS, FASHP, Director of Pharmacy Practice and Quality at ASHP, to speak at their multidisciplinary drug shortages workshop in Washington, D.C., on September 5–6, 2018. The National Academies drug shortages workshop is funded by the Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

The workshop, Medical Product Shortages during Disasters: Opportunities to Predict, Prevent, and Respond, will address the following topics:

• Effects of drug shortages on patient care, patient outcomes, and provider resource availability
• Federal preparedness for shortages of key medications and medical devices
• Innovative approaches for public and private stakeholders to predict, prevent, and respond to shortages and associated risks to national health security
• Strategies that care providers can have in place to provide patient care during shortages resulting from disasters or other public-health emergencies

The National Academies plan to use the workshop proceedings to produce a report on the subject of drug shortages during disasters. ASHP has also been asked to serve as a report reviewer, and will provide extensive feedback, member insights, and resources to help ensure that the report can serve as a strong basis for major changes to help prevent future drug shortages. 

During the workshop, Dr. Ganio will discuss the major patient care, public health, and national security implications of ongoing drug shortages and share ASHP’s longstanding efforts to provide information about and solutions to drug shortages.

ASHP has previously described drug shortages as a matter of national security, and on September 20, 2018, ASHP, along with ASA, AHA, ASCO, and ISMP, will be hosting a summit to discuss the major national security implications of drug shortages. Federal government, medical organizations, and pharmaceutical industry representatives are scheduled to attend.

ASHP and its colleagues at the University of Utah have been leaders in providing timely information on drug shortages for nearly 15 years. In November 2017, ASHP convened a drug shortage roundtable, inviting both public sector and medical professional member organization representatives to identify new opportunities to address ongoing supply chain and patient-care challenges associated with drug shortages. A total of 11 specific recommendations, many involving proposed action by FDA or other federal entities, emerged from the roundtable.

Three ASHP members have also been asked to participate in the workshop: Scott Knoer, Pharm.D., M.S., FASHP, Chief Pharmacy Officer at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio; Bonnie Levin, Pharm.D., M.B.A., FASHP, Corporate Assistant Vice President of Pharmacy Services at MedStar Health in Washington, D.C.; and Karla Miller, Pharm.D., BCPP, Vice President of Pharmacy Services and Clinical Therapeutics, Hospital Corporation of America, Clinical Services Group in Nashville, Tenn. Erin Fox, Senior Director of Drug Information and Support Services at the University of Utah Health is a member of the workshop planning committee. 

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