HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Childbirth can be a very painful experience, one that can last hours. That’s why some laboring women turn to pain medication. But on Monday, the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority confirmed that they were out of first line pain medication for laboring mothers.
“GMHA is currently out of stock of Stadol (Butorphanol). The shortage is due to a nationwide shortage caused by delays in manufacturing the medication,” hospital spokesperson Cindy Hanson said.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists website reports that more Stadol won’t be available for release for up to a month, with estimated resupply dates anticipated for February and March.
According to Hanson, “GMHA currently has Stadol on back order with its vendors, with instructions to ship immediately once it becomes available. In the meantime, GMHA has an inventory of second line agents to make laboring mothers as comfortable as possible.”
Dr. Thomas Shieh, an OB-GYN, shared that the hospital was out of first line pain medication on his social media page Saturday. Shieh told The Guam Daily Post on Monday that the second line medication normally used at the hospital is Demerol and fentanyl.
“But my experience with them is that they are not as effective compared to Stadol. Stadol provides better initial analgesia than fentanyl with fewer patient requests for more medication or epidural analgesia,” he said. “We try to give less IV pain meds to moms as much as possible, but if the IV meds don’t work or wears out, the next best option is an epidural.”
With first line pain medication not available at the hospital, Shieh questioned if there were other reasons GMH was unable to secure the medication.
“It is really odd to me that GMH want to go through (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). When I heard that, I called my supplier in Honolulu, and they were not short so I placed an order right away. It was mailed out on Saturday, and I will get it this week. Then I will give them to the hospital. GMH says they have no issue with the ‘medical vendors’ or they are not on credit holds. So if that is true, why can’t they get it and I can?” Shieh said. “What they need to do is to work with the vendors. Don’t delay their payments to vendors. And with their history of credit holds, vendors are more likely to not work with GMH. And if there is a shortage, the vendors would give it to the institution that pays their bills on time than to the other who does not. As you know, GMH is the biggest excuse-maker in the world. This is another sad day for pregnant moms in labor at GMH.”
When asked if payment to the vendor was the cause of the hospital being out of stock, GMHA’s response was that the nationwide supply shortage was the cause.
The Guam Memorial Hospital on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, in Tamuning.
