

Shortages forcing US hospitals to ration essential nutrients, even for preemies - qohen
http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/children-are-dying/index.php
<i>Experts call the nutrient shortage a public-health crisis and a national emergency—and are astounded that the government and manufacturers have let the situation become so dire.<p>“Children are dying,” says Steve Plogsted, a clinical pharmacist who chairs the drug-shortage task force of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). “They’re not getting any calcium or any zinc. Or they’re not getting any phosphorous, and that can lead to heart standstill. I know of a neonate who had seven days without phosphorous, and her little heart stopped.”<p>“I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire career, and I’ve been a pharmacist for 40-some years,” says Michael Cohen, president of the nonprofit Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and a 2005 MacArthur Foundation fellow. “This should never be allowed to happen.” </i>
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qohen
From the article:

 _Experts call the nutrient shortage a public-health crisis and a national
emergency—and are astounded that the government and manufacturers have let the
situation become so dire.

“Children are dying,” says Steve Plogsted, a clinical pharmacist who chairs
the drug-shortage task force of the American Society for Parenteral and
Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). “They’re not getting any calcium or any zinc. Or
they’re not getting any phosphorous, and that can lead to heart standstill. I
know of a neonate who had seven days without phosphorous, and her little heart
stopped.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire career, and I’ve been a
pharmacist for 40-some years,” says Michael Cohen, president of the nonprofit
Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and a 2005 MacArthur Foundation
fellow. “This should never be allowed to happen.”_

