[ 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
844
Current
155
To be discontinued
214
Flagged unavailable
21% 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
Sodium Bicarbonate InjectionInjectionExela Pharma Sciences, LLCEndocrinology/MetabolismAvailableCurrent2017-07-24
Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.AnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2020-04-10
Ketorolac Tromethamine InjectionInjectionGland Pharma LimitedAnalgesia/AddictionAvailableCurrent2018-03-23
Midazolam Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionGland Pharma LimitedAnesthesiaUnavailableCurrent2020-04-02
Furosemide InjectionInjectionGland Pharma LimitedCardiovascularUnavailableCurrent2020-04-07
Quinapril Hydrochloride TabletTabletPfizer Inc.CardiovascularUnavailableCurrent2023-01-19
Quinapril Hydrochloride TabletTabletPfizer Inc.CardiovascularUnavailableCurrent2023-01-19
Methylprednisolone Acetate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.RheumatologyLimitedCurrent2021-12-15
Methylprednisolone Acetate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.RheumatologyAvailableCurrent2021-12-15
Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.AnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2020-04-10
Clindamycin Phosphate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.Anti-InfectiveUnavailableCurrent2023-03-21
Methylprednisolone Acetate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.RheumatologyAvailableCurrent2021-12-15
Clindamycin Phosphate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.Anti-InfectiveAvailableCurrent2023-03-21
Clindamycin Phosphate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.Anti-InfectiveAvailableCurrent2023-03-21
Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.AnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2020-04-10
Quinapril Hydrochloride TabletTabletPfizer Inc.CardiovascularUnavailableCurrent2023-01-19
Methylprednisolone Acetate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.RheumatologyAvailableCurrent2021-12-15
Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.AnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2020-04-10
Methylprednisolone Acetate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.RheumatologyAvailableCurrent2021-12-15
Quinapril/Hydrochlorothiazide TabletTabletPfizer Inc.CardiovascularUnavailableCurrent2023-01-19
Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.AnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2020-04-10
Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.AnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2020-04-10
Methylprednisolone Acetate InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.RheumatologyAvailableCurrent2021-12-15
Carboplatin InjectionInjectionGland Pharma LimitedOncologyLimitedCurrent2023-04-28
Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride InjectionInjectionPfizer Inc.AnesthesiaAvailableCurrent2020-04-10
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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).