Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

The COVID-19 pandemic showed how easily medicine supplies can be disrupted, leaving patients without the treatments they need. In 2019 a drug used to prevent stomach bleeds called ranitidine, was recalled worldwide and within a few months, its use dropped by 99%. Studying events like this helps us understand how medicine shortages affect patients and can guide planning for future health emergencies. This study aimed to understand how the 2019 ranitidine recall affected people's health by looking at hospital, emergency room, and doctor visits. Patients taking ranitidine at the time of the recall were grouped by those that stopped taking ranitidine, switched to another drug, or continued using it, and were compared to patients using alternative drugs. They were followed for one year after the recall to see when they visited the hospital or emergency room for stomach-related issues, or a doctor. Over the following year, 1.9% of patients went to the hospital or emergency room for stomach-related issues. Those who stopped taking ranitidine had a lower risk of these visits compared with those taking other drugs, the risk for those who continued or switched was not different from those taking other drugs. Those who continued or switched ranitidine had a higher likelihood of seeing their doctors, suggesting greater healthcare use following the recall. Our findings show that patients had more contact with the healthcare system after the recall, but serious stomach-related problems did not increase. This may be because alternative medications were available, which helped prevent negative health effects. While ranitidine is not a life-saving drug, similar shortages involving critical medicines could have much more serious impacts. Studying how patients and healthcare providers responded to the recall can help identify weaknesses in the system and guide policies to ensure people continue to have access to essential medicines during future health emergencies.