Impact of the Medication Shortages on Psychiatric Patients: Exploring the Consequences of Lorazepam Injection Scarcity.

Abstract

Objective: This study reviewed the cases of 13 patients in a psychiatric hospital during the 2022 lorazepam injection shortage in the United States (US). The objective was to determine if there were any patterns to the management of the medication shortage of an essential psychiatric medication at a psychiatric hospital.

Methods: A retrospective review of eligible patients who had an order for lorazepam injection prescribed as needed (PRN) between July and October 2022 were divided into, and compared between, two groups: those who had orders permitting continued PRN administration of the medication and those who were discontinued.

Results: No negative behavioral issues were seen in the patients who had their doses discontinued.

Conclusion: The absence of negative psychiatric consequences suggests that either nonpharmacotherapeutic interventions were alternatively stabilizing or that the standing PRN orders for lorazepam injection were not needed for these patients. A proactive emergency management plan to address critical medication shortages has become an increasingly necessary contingency and would have been appropriate for use during this national shortage.