Recently, the Ontario COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit Drug Task Force developed recommendations for drug conservation strategies and therapeutic alternatives for essential drugs at risk of shortage in the intensive care unit during the pandemic.

Christine Donaldson, Vice President, Pharmacy at HealthPRO was honoured to contribute to this paper, led by Salmann Kanji from the Ottawa Hospital and other members including Lisa Burry, Mount Sinai Hospital, and Jin-Hyeun Huh, University Health Network.

The report highlighted that during a global pandemic, there needs to be a requirement to implement urgent strategies to alleviate shortages. Further, the evaluation of the feasibility, practicality, and value of drug conservation strategies, and therapeutic alternatives, necessitates a collaborative approach at the provincial level.

Recommendations in the report were developed using a modified Delphi method and evaluated on their ease of implementation, feasibility, and supportive evidence.

Although the impetus for the report’s focus was the COVID-19 pandemic, the recommendations are also applicable for mitigating drug shortages outside of a pandemic.

“Proposed provincial strategies for drug conservation and therapeutic alternatives may not all be appropriate for every institution. Local implementation will require consultation from end-users and hospital administrators,” stated the report.