Humans aren't the only ones suffering from drug shortages this year. A widely used medication used to treat heartworm in dogs is currently unavailable and some shelters, mostly in the Southern US, say they may have to consider euthanizing dogs that become extremely ill. And Merial, the Sanofi animal health unit that makes Immiticide, may not be able to resume supplies for months.
"Right now, I have over 20 animals waiting for heartworm treatment because I can’t get the medication. And that’s not counting dogs we haven’t been able to test yet," Marsha Williams, director of the Guilford County Animal Shelter in Greensboro, North Carolina, tells us. "It's devastating...If we know we can’t treat them and there's no alternatieve, we have no choice but to put them down."
Heartworm is a potentially fatal condition caused by parasitic worms living in the arteries of the lungs and occasionally in the right side of the heart of dogs, cats and other animals. The malady can be prevented by using medication, but Sanofi's Immiticide is the only FDA-approved drug that has been available to treat the disease, which can take weeks to help dogs recover. An older drug called caparsolate sodium is not currently made or sold in the US.
Earlier this month, Merial sent letters to veteranarians to say there was a shortage and asked for help conserving supplies by treating only the most severe cases. But this caused a run and now Merial is reportedly out of stock (read here). A Merial spokeswoman did not respond to messages, but a source familiar with the situation says supplies may not resume for 90 days or more.
The problem is not as worrisome in all parts of the country, though, according to Gordon Peddle, a veterinary cardiologist at Animal Emergency and Referral Associates in Fairfield, New Jersey. That's because heartworm occurs more often in regions where mosquitoes breed, notably the South and Southeast (look at the map). "It's not as prevalent here, which is why the shortage is less of a problem," he tells us.
This is not the first time that Merial has run into production problems with Immiticide. A shortage arose early last year due to unspecified manufacturing issues. Nonetheless, the prospect of an indefinite shortage does not bode well for dogs. As Williams notes, "who knows how many may have to be put down."
photo thx to tipiro on Flickr creative commons
10 Comments
The world would probably be a better place if we started putting down animal shelter directors.
"Marsha Williams, director of the Guilford County Animal Shelter in Greensboro, North Carolina, tells us. “It’s devastating…If we know we can’t treat them and there’s no alternatieve, we have no choice but to put them down.”"
There are of course, well known alternative treatments, but that's not something you would expect a shelter manager to know.
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about vector eradication, or are mosquitoes just too resistant. That would alleviate the problem with drug shortages.
One of the issues with vector eradication is that it can be toxic, so the potential prevention is as bad as the disease that you are trying to prevent. Take DDT for example. It works, but there can be collateral damage.
Maybe also hard to control heartworm vectors since it seems like multiple species of mosquitoes carry the parasite, unlike, for example yellow fever, which is only transmitted by the mosquito species Aedes aegypti.
yes, but it isn't a shortage of the preventative, but the treatment that's the problem.
ok. Forget the vectors. I haven't read about a shortage of Ivermectin for prophylaxis. Costs $50/year, dirt cheap if you care about your pet. The animal shelters where I live all use it. Like they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Interesting - Harpy. I didn't realize animal health (and human pharma?)was moving to a business model in which it would sell only preventatives and no treatments. Is that more profitable? Unless all heartworm preventatives are 100% effective wouldn't you in theory always need to have some treatment, if you care about cats and dogs as a vet and a manufacturer? You have to appreciate that it's the manufacturers not the AVMA making the "best medicine" Heartworm Guidelines. Note Platinum Sponsors and Officers http://www.heartwormsociety.org/
SM, it's a better business model to sell both a preventative and a treatment from the same company. No different than a company whose programmers secretly create a new virus, then the same company turns around and sells you an antivirus program to combat the virus that it created itself.
who said it was, SM? if you live in a risk area, make sure your dog is on a preventative. then there is less likelihood you'll need the treatment.
human pharma seems interested in drugs that must be taken for the rest of one's life. are there still drugs that "cure" anything?
I read OOI's first post as: "Why doesn’t anybody ever talk about *voter* eradication . . . " and didn't know if I thought it was a good idea or not .