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Contrast shortage

Started by Dr. Ice
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I do my injections at a surgery center, they said we were almost out. I said ok we are gonna have to cut back on lots of our cases, and magically more contrast was found about a week later
 
schmee90 said:
I do my injections at a surgery center, they said we were almost out. I said ok we are gonna have to cut back on lots of our cases, and magically more contrast was found about a week later
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It is an allocation issue and therefore affects groups and individuals differently
 
What’s the most cost effective way to be compliant in buying contrast dye and portioning it out?
 
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Agast said:
I don’t think I can build out a sterile hood 🙁
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It's better to "have it and not need it, than need it and not have it..."

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We have a shortage. I used to use a fresh vial for each case, now I would run out 1.5 days into the week. They are limiting how much we can order. Ohio based
 
My understanding is that it’s about allocation. If you were using a fresh vial for each case you should be allocated enough for the suspected 3 month time period. We were reusing the large bottles so our allocation numbers are off. It just so happened that the health system started mandating single use for each vial around the same time of the shortage.

Somehow, last week, we got 97 cases of omnipaque that just appeared.
 
I wonder if this is something a local compounding pharmacy could assist with hmm
 
yes but i would be concerned with using compounding pharmacies for intrathecal medications.

maybe get an aliquot for SIJ, MBB, LSB, etc. and save the non-compounded drug for ESI and TFESI...
 
Ducttape said:
yes but i would be concerned with using compounding pharmacies for intrathecal medications.

maybe get an aliquot for SIJ, MBB, LSB, etc. and save the non-compounded drug for ESI and TFESI...
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I don’t mean compounded contrast, more that they could use their good to divvy up the supply into smaller vials
 
I notified my ASC of the contrast shortage after y’all posted this thread and they didn’t follow up so now we are short. FML.
 
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Agast said:
I notified my ASC of the contrast shortage after y’all posted this thread and they didn’t follow up so now we are short. FML.
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I did contact my pharmacy contact and she said that pharmacies with sterile hood can easily divide up Omnipaque into smaller syringes. She said that they can easily take a 75 cc vial and divide it into 25 3 cc aliquots. She said that her advice would be to use them all within 90 days.
 
It seems to stem from Bracco starting allocation constraints on Isovue 10/2025 and they point towards increased CT scan utilization and maybe hospital stockpiling in reaction to COVID shortages.
 
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i am re opening my practice and have always gotten Omni from Henry Schein. HS is telling me nobody can get it. I know that’s a lie. How are you guys getting it, do other companies have it for a reasonable price?
 
They told me they were restricted to giving it to people who ordered from them in Q1

I got Isovue-M directly from Bracco. It’s about the same price of what I’m willing to spend on a bottle of wine you bring to dinner for your in-laws.
 
Unfortunately Bracco was a no. He recommended Omni as being more available than Isovue. It seems like places only want to sell to you if you bought in the past two Qs. How does a new clinic compete?
 
We apparently have a secret vendor who will sell to us by the droves. I have no idea who they are because it’s hush hush.
 
So GE won’t let suppliers sell any Omni unless you have purchased in the past six months. Bracco/ isovue says same thing. I have been working to get my clinic open over the past six months and haven’t ordered contrast. So now I have to ask if anyone has an extra box can they message me? I can either pay you for it now or send you a replacement box once I am no longer blackballed. I appreciate it!
 
geauxg8rs said:
So GE won’t let suppliers sell any Omni unless you have purchased in the past six months. Bracco/ isovue says same thing. I have been working to get my clinic open over the past six months and haven’t ordered contrast. So now I have to ask if anyone has an extra box can they message me? I can either pay you for it now or send you a replacement box once I am no longer blackballed. I appreciate it!
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Steve lobel apparently has a closet full…
 
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geauxg8rs said:
So GE won’t let suppliers sell any Omni unless you have purchased in the past six months. Bracco/ isovue says same thing. I have been working to get my clinic open over the past six months and haven’t ordered contrast. So now I have to ask if anyone has an extra box can they message me? I can either pay you for it now or send you a replacement box once I am no longer blackballed. I appreciate it!
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What region are you in? I signed up for a Bracco account a month ago and they let me purchase contrast. I only ordered two boxes because I can’t read and foolishly thought I was getting 200 instead of 20 for the price I paid.
 
A rep told me you can get gray market contrast dye from some compounding pharmacies. How they obtain it is beyond me. They jack up the price, too.
 
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