Medics told to ration life-saving 'bread-and-butter medicine' used to help ... trends now
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Doctors have been told to ration a lifesaving drug used in treating serious cases of asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.
A UK-wide shortage of the liquid form of salbutamol, used to keep patients who cannot breathe without medical intervention alive, has hit NHS hospitals.
The medication, delivered as a fine spray through a special medical mask called a nebulisers, relaxes muscles involved in breathing reopening a patient's airway.
Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England issued a 'safety critical' national alert issued on 26 February that 2.5mg and 5mg dose vials of salbutamol liquid are in short supply.
Shortages are expected to last until mid-April 2024, according to the notification.
Shortages of the liquid form of salbutamol are expected to last until mid-April 2024, according to the safety alert (stock image)
Hospitals have been told to 'place urgent orders for unlicensed imports of salbutamol nebuliser liquid' and to not 'wait for supplies to be exhausted' before ordering more.
The alert also urged medics to 'wean all patients off nebulisers as soon as their condition has stabilised'.
One specialist lung medic who regularly dishes out the drug to patients who need it to breath told The Guardian that the situation was worrying.
'This is a life-saving drug
