• Manon Videau, Lotfi Chemali, Cyril Stucki, Mar Saavedra-Mitjans, Samuel Largana, Aurélie Guerin, Pascal Bonnabry, Blaise Delhauteur, Thierry Van Hees, Denis Lebel, and Jean-François Bussières.
• is a PharmD candidate with the Faculty of Pharmacy (ISPB), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France, and a Research Assistant with the Pharmacy Practice Research Unit, Pharmacy Department, Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Quebec.
• Can J Hosp Pharm. 2019 Jan 1; 72 (1): 7-15.

BackgroundDrug shortages represent a complex global problem affecting patients and health care professionals on a daily basis.ObjectivesTo identify, describe, and compare drug shortages in health care facilities in Canada and 4 European countries in early 2018.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 1 hospital in each of 5 countries: Canada, France, Belgium, Spain, and Switzerland. Over a 4-week period, shortage data were collected daily by each hospital using a standardized grid and a standard process.ResultsFrom January 8 to February 2, 2018, there were a total of 84 shortages (median duration 32 days) in the Canadian hospital, 62 shortages (median duration 9 days) in the French hospital, 46 shortages (median duration 37 days) in the Belgian hospital, 28 shortages (median duration 25 days) in the Spanish hospital, and 98 shortages (median duration 68 days) in the Swiss hospital. The number of manufacturers implicated in the shortages was 28 for the Canadian hospital, 30 for the French hospital, 19 for the Belgian hospital, 16 for the Spanish hospital, and 42 for the Swiss hospital. Most of the shortages involved parenteral drugs, with both innovative and generic manufacturers being affected. Most therapeutic classes were affected by shortages to some extent, with the top 3 classes being anti-infective agents (accounting for 21.1% of shortages overall), central nervous system drugs (11.3%), and cardiovascular drugs (8.2%).ConclusionsDrug shortages occurred almost daily in all of the study hospitals. Across the 5 hospitals, the frequency of shortages varied by a factor of 3, which may imply similar variability at the national level. All stakeholders should work more diligently to prevent and manage drug shortages.

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