| Total active shortages hit an all-time high of 323 in this year’s first quarter, according to the University of Utah Drug Information Service. That’s up about 86% from a 10-year low of 174 last reached in 2017. Erin Fox has tracked drug shortages for more than 20 years, and she sees no easy solutions for what has become a record run. There were 48 new shortages recorded this year through March, according to the data, published by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. We have, overall, relatively few manufacturers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration halted inspections during COVID. Now they’re back at factories that maybe haven’t been inspected for five or six years. They’re finding some things to fix, but those fixes can take anywhere from 6 to 18 months for production to get fully back on schedule. The typical drugs that land on the shortage list are generic, injectable hospital drugs or older drugs. However, we've also seen Amoxicillin shortages every fall for the last few years. Amoxicillin comes standard in the Jase Case and the KidCase, so stock up now before we likely have another shortage this fall. | 
