Finding out whether a certain drug is in short supply has just gotten a little easier.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday the launch of a mobile app for health professionals to get quick information on drug shortages.
“The FDA understands that healthcare professionals and pharmacists need real-time information about drug shortages to make treatment decisions,” Valerie Jensen, associate director of the drug shortage staff in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “The new mobile app is an innovative tool that will offer easier and faster access to important drug shortage information.”
Users can identify current drug shortages, shortages that have been resolved, and drugs that have been discontinued by searching for a specific drug's generic name or their active ingredient product, or by browsing a therapeutic category. The app also can be used to report a suspected supply issue to the FDA.
The effort is part of an agency plan intended to mitigate drug shortages.
The app is available for free download by searching “FDA Drug Shortages” at iTunes for Apple devices and the Google Play store for Android devices.
The app is the first to be developed by the FDA, which plans to launch additional apps to access other types of information, said agency spokesman Christopher Kelly. He could not provide specifics as to the kind of apps in development.
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