Important Information About National Shortage of Vincristine

Your child’s health is our first priority. Because we value you as a partner in your child’s care, we want to make you aware of a serious situation regarding the availability of the chemotherapy drug, vincristine, and what we are doing to address it.

 Situation:

• There currently is a temporary shortage of vincristine sulfate injection in the United States.
• The vincristine shortage is a national issue and all cancer centers are experiencing the same supply issues.
• There is not an adequate substitution for the medication, but there are strategies for addressing this shortage.
• On Oct. 16, the FDA advised that additional supplies may be available by late October or early November. However, because there is no certainty that this will be sufficient, Children’s Mercy Kansas City is taking steps out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with guidance from the National Cancer Institute’s research arm (the Children’s Oncology Group, COG) to minimize impact to our patients both in the short- and long-term.

What Children’s Mercy is Doing:

• We are evaluating our supply at the hospital and identifying available methods for extending our supply.
• We are contacting other hospitals and suppliers to seek any available and unused supplies which we might be able to use for our patients.
• We are following national guidance and identifying those settings where managing doses of vincristine can be most successfully accomplished with the least impact on outcome.

What You Can Do:

• Talk to your child’s provider at Children’s Mercy. He or she can answer your questions and discuss your child’s treatment plan.
• For updates, go to childrensmercy.org/vincristine