Shortage of injectable procainamide

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reports a shortage of injectable procainamide hydrochloride. This drug shortage is almost certainly related to the yet unresolved shortages of injectable lidocaine. Ordinarily procainamide is the second choice drug after lidocaine for treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. People who are allergic to lidocaine typically receive procainamide, as do people whose arrhythmias are not stopped by lidocaine. If someone's arrhythmia is not stopped by either lidocaine or procainamide, then injectable amiodarone hydrochloride is the drug of choice, but there is an unresolved shortage of this drug as well.

Shortage of injectable bupivacaine

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reports a shortage of injectable bupivacaine. This drug shortage logically follows the shortage of various lidocaine presentations. The local anesthesia produced by bupivacaine is much longer lasting than lidocaine, thus it is normally used for surgical procedures that take longer. If correctly administered without accidentally getting it into the venous circulation, bupivacaine causes few problems. If such an accident occurs, however, bupivacaine is toxic to the heart and will also cause various central nervous system symptoms ranging from unpleasant to dangerous.