Pfizer limits some drugs distribution after tornado in North Carolina
is limiting the distribution of some drugs manufactured at its plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, after the facility was struck by a tornado last month, the company said in a letter to hospitals late Thursday. The letter listed 12 injection products that Pfizer will only distribute through emergency orders “due to their high medical need,” effective “immediately and until further notice.” Some injections on the list were already in short supply as of late last month, according to a database from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. That includes a type of sodium chloride injection, which is used to replenish water and salt lost as a result of certain conditions. It also includes an injection used to treat metabolic acidosis, or the buildup of excess acid in the body due to ailments like kidney failure. But the list also includes drugs that did not have supply issues as of last month, such as certain versions of heart failure injection dobutamine and dopamine, which is used to treat shock and low blood pressure caused by heart attack, infections or surgery. Pfizer did not say how much supply of those products comes from its damaged plant. The company previously said that the facility supplies 8% of all