Beschikbaarheid van geneesmiddelen in ziekenhuizen bij acute situaties

Availability in hospitals of medicines for acute cases In acute situations it is important that essential medication is readily available. In this comment we discuss various challenges in determining the assortment of medicines that should be available, and the logistic and administrative obstacles for pharmacists when delivering unregistered medicines such as artesunate. With centralization of (emergency) care, we must ask ourselves whether every hospital pharmacy should have a wide range of medicines in stock. Regional and national agreements on the availability of essential medication for acute situations are essential, and establishing these should be a joint responsibility of physicians and pharmacists.