[ FDA DRUG SHORTAGES TRACKER ]

A drug shortage is a quality failure with a body count.

Live FDA drug shortage data (openFDA), grouped by status, availability, and therapeutic area. The FDA’s own root-cause analysis puts manufacturing and quality problems at the centre of the shortage crisis — which is why SPEQ treats the shortage list as a quality-system signal, not just a supply-chain one.

1,000
Active shortages tracked
789
Current
205
To be discontinued
196
Flagged unavailable
20% flagged unavailable · latest update 2026-07-27 · source: openFDA drug/shortages
NEW SHORTAGES POSTED · MONTHLY

By initial FDA posting date. openFDA lists active shortages, so older cohorts thin as entries resolve.

ACTIVE SHORTAGES BY THERAPEUTIC CATEGORY · TOP 10
WHY THIS SITS UNDER QUALITY, NOT LOGISTICS

The FDA’s 2019 report Drug Shortages: Root Causes and Potential Solutions found the dominant drivers are not scarcity of raw materials but a lack of incentives to produce, and manufacturing/quality problems that force production to stop. Mature quality systems — the difference a QMM assessment measures — are what keep a line running.

The economics of quality →FDA QMM framework →
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1,166 matching shortages
DrugCompanyTherapeutic areaAvailabilityStatusPosted
Epinephrine Bitartrate, Lidocaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2016-10-14
Dextrose Monohydrate 10% InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCEndocrinology/MetabolismAvailableCurrent2022-03-01
Bupivacaine Hydrochloride, Epinephrine Bitartrate InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2018-02-20
Methylphenidate Film, Extended ReleaseFilm, Extended ReleaseNoven Pharmaceuticals, Inc.PsychiatryAvailableCurrent2025-02-28
Ropivacaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaUnavailableCurrent2018-03-23
Ropivacaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaUnavailableCurrent2018-03-23
Ropivacaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2018-03-23
Dextrose Monohydrate 70% InjectionInjectionB. Braun Medical Inc.Endocrinology/MetabolismAvailableCurrent2024-10-11
Dextrose Monohydrate 5% InjectionInjectionB. Braun Medical Inc.Endocrinology/MetabolismAvailableCurrent2022-02-14
Dextrose Monohydrate 5% InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCEndocrinology/MetabolismUnavailableCurrent2022-02-14
Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCDermatologyAvailableCurrent2019-02-08
Lidocaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaUnavailableCurrent2012-02-22
Fentanyl Citrate InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnalgesia/AddictionAvailableCurrent2012-01-01
Ropivacaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaUnavailableCurrent2018-03-23
Lidocaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2012-02-22
Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCDermatologyUnavailableCurrent2019-02-08
Epinephrine Bitartrate, Lidocaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2016-10-14
Ifosfamide InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCOncologyUnavailableCurrent2026-06-12
Ropivacaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2018-03-23
Ropivacaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaUnavailableCurrent2018-03-23
Lidocaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaUnavailableCurrent2012-02-22
Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaUnavailableCurrent2020-04-10
Conivaptan Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionCumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc.CardiovascularUnavailableCurrent2022-03-14
Ropivacaine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2018-03-23
Remifentanil Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionFresenius Kabi USA, LLCAnalgesia/AddictionAvailableCurrent2022-06-28
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Data: U.S. FDA openFDA drug/shortages API, which lists activeshortages (Current or To Be Discontinued) — it carries no per-record cause field, so SPEQ makes no root-cause claim on individual drugs; the quality framing above is cited FDA context. openFDA publishes shortage data for drugs only; SPEQ’s cross-industry coverage lives in the recall Explorer(drug, device & food).