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There is a shortage of medication across the country — and Utah is suffering more than many states, in more than one way.

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Utah has the second-highest rate of people among the 50 states reporting that they’ve experienced a prescription drug shortage in the last month — and Utahns have the sixth-highest rate of shortages in over-the-counter meds.

Utah also is home to the service that created a national database to help hospitals, think tanks and lawmakers tackle the problem of drug shortages.

The head of University of Utah Health’s Drug Information Service, Erin Fox, said that while people may be feeling the hassle of finding prescription medication, over-the-counter meds and other medical needs, the problem isn’t widespread.

“It’s definitely frustrating for people to not be able to get the medicine they need,” Fox said, “but overall I would say it’s not too bad right now.”

People in the pharmacy industry are working on solutions at the national level, Fox said. She added that there are easy, everyday solutions that patients can use — including talking to their pharmacist.

Estimate: About 400,000 Utahns struggled to get prescriptions

More than 16% of Utahns reported, as part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey (a program created in response to the pandemic that provides near-real-time data), that they had experienced a shortage of prescription medication.

That’s the second-highest rate in the country, behind only Louisiana, for the final time the survey asked that question in mid- and late-October. It was similarly high in other rounds of the survey.

The figure represents about 400,000 Utahns who struggled to get prescription medication toward the end of 2023.

Utah’s rate was 33.1% higher than the national rate of 12.2%.

Rates in neighboring states were much lower, ranging from 10.7% in Nevada to 12.9% in Idaho.

Another 140,000 or so Utahns — about 5.7% of the population, struggled to find their preferred over-the-counter medication. That’s the sixth-highest rate.

Residents in some nearby states had similar struggles, with at least 5% of people in Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming reporting they’d had trouble finding over-the-counter meds.

The U’s Drug Information Service doesn’t track shortages by region, Fox said, who serves as the health system’s associate chief pharmacy officer in addition to heading the DIS.

ADHD, blood pressure meds and others hard to find

The Drug Information Service does track which medications are hard to find at a national level.

Notably, Fox said, that included included medicine intended to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which “have been hard to find and still are in some cases.”

There are extra complications for ADHD medication, she said, because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration treats them the same as morphine and other opioids.

“There are some really hard limits on pharmacies in the amount they can order,” Fox said, and pharmacies can’t always order enough, especially when they get new patients.

Fox also detailed shortages in some chemotherapy medications, Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs, some blood-pressure medicines and eye drops.

Hospitals come up with creative solutions, Fox said, including scheduling two chemo appointments at once so they can split a dose — because each treatment only uses half of a vial.

Providers also can switch people to other drugs that have the same effect, she said, though it often takes a lot of work to get someone an alternative prescription because of the time to change ordering and stocking habits.

Though the Federal Drug Administration gets a lot of blame for shortages, Fox said, the agency can’t force pharmaceutical companies to make any medicine “no matter how lifesaving it is.”

‘Don’t panic’ and talk to the pharmacist

As professionals and lawmakers work on solutions, there are everyday things patients can do, Fox said.

Her first recommendation is to talk to the pharmacist about alternative medications. They can then talk to the prescribing doctor, she said, or the pharmacist can get the prescription updated.

Fox also recommended that people understand the active ingredients in over-the-counter drugs, so they can see if another product will help in the same way if their desired medicine is out of stock.

“Don’t panic,” she said. “It’s really easy to get frustrated when there are supply issues.”

People should take a deep breath, Fox said, and be willing to have the conversation and see if they should come back in a couple of days — or if it’s a long-term problem requiring a switch in medication.

It’s also important to have a relationship with your pharmacy, Fox said.

“If you’re their routine Ritalin patient, they know they’re going to fill for you, so they may not use up your supply to fill for a brand new patient’s prescription,” she said.

Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.