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Coronavirus: Demand for dexamethasone in US is outstripping supply

Coronavirus: Demand for dexamethasone in US is outstripping supply

Dexamethasone

Soaring hospital demand for the steroid dexamethasone, which British researchers say significantly reduces mortality among severely ill COVID-19 patients, is outstripping supply in the United States.

Hospitals and other health-care customers advised by Vizient increased orders of the drug by more than 600% after the researchers announced their findings last week.

Manufacturers were only able to fill around half of those orders.

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Vizient’s data shows that hospitals are increasingly putting the drug into use to treat COVID-19 patients.

According to Oxford University researchers, dexamethasone reduced death rates by nearly a third among COVID-19 patients requiring mechanical breathing assistance.

The injectable version of dexamethasone has been in shortage in the US since February of last year, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.