>> gobin: every day. >> whitaker: is this just another casualty of covid? >> gobin: no. so, we were dealing with shortages long before covid. they're all very old, fundamental drugs that every hospital in the country needs and uses. >> whitaker: drug shortages can kill. in 2011, when norepinephrine, an old, low-profit drug used to treat septic shock, was in short supply, hundreds of people around the country died. >> pharmacist: yeah, that one's also still on back order. we can't get it. >> whitaker: just about every hospital in the u.s. has weekly drug shortage meetings like this one at loma linda. >> gobin: dextrose? >> pharmacist: dextrose vials. still completely out of the vials. we are using these syringes for everything. >> whitaker: during a drug shortage, hospitals may be forced to switch patients to less safe or effective alternative drugs. they retrieve leftovers from single-dose drug vials to share with other patients and avoid wasting a single drop. >> gobin: ask the pharmacist about maybe further concentrating to try to conserve some of these 100-ml bags. yo