Top 10 Longest-Running Current FDA Drug Shortages: 2026
Atropine sulfate injection and fentanyl citrate injection share the oldest initial posting date among current FDA drug shortage entries in the October 12, 2026 captured listing. Each was first posted on January 1, 2012—5,398 elapsed calendar days before the as-of date.
This ranking measures time since initial posting, not verified continuous shortage duration. It is based on the FDA export and index captured October 12, 2026, and is not a live ranking. Because two entries tie for tenth, a tie-inclusive top 10 has 11 entries.
Table of contents
- Ranked current shortage entries
- What this ranking counts
- How to interpret the result
- Frequently asked questions
- Explore FDA shortage records in QOPE
- Sources
Ranked current shortage entries
| Rank | FDA shortage entry | Initial posting date | Elapsed days to October 12, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Atropine Sulfate Injection | January 1, 2012 | 5,398 |
| 1= | Fentanyl Citrate Injection | January 1, 2012 | 5,398 |
| 3= | Epinephrine Bitartrate, Lidocaine Hydrochloride Injection | February 22, 2012 | 5,346 |
| 3= | Lidocaine Hydrochloride Injection | February 22, 2012 | 5,346 |
| 5 | Cefotaxime Sodium Powder, for Solution | February 17, 2015 | 4,255 |
| 6 | Sodium Acetate Injection | February 3, 2016 | 3,904 |
| 7 | Sodium Bicarbonate Injection | March 1, 2017 | 3,512 |
| 8= | Hydromorphone Hydrochloride Injection | October 31, 2017 | 3,268 |
| 8= | Morphine Sulfate Injection | October 31, 2017 | 3,268 |
| 10= | Dobutamine Hydrochloride Injection | November 6, 2017 | 3,262 |
| 10= | Dopamine Hydrochloride Injection | November 6, 2017 | 3,262 |
The ranks use competition ranking: tied entries share a rank, and the following rank skips accordingly. For instance, the two entries at rank 1 are followed by rank 3. Both rank-10 entries are included rather than choosing between them arbitrarily.
What this ranking counts
The population comes from the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) drug-shortage listing, not an exhaustive inventory of shortages of every FDA-regulated product. FDA’s drug shortage FAQ identifies separate handling for non-CDER shortages, including CBER-regulated biological products such as blood and vaccines.
The FDA downloadable file contains company- and presentation-level rows, but this analysis does not count each manufacturer, strength, or presentation as a separate ranked shortage. The analysis groups current rows into FDA detail-page entries, using each entry’s AI query key with current status (st=c) as the identifier. The source does not provide a separate numeric shortage-ID field.
The captured export contained 1,580 rows: 1,141 marked Current, 19 Resolved, and 420 To Be Discontinued. The current rows represented 69 distinct entries; resolved and discontinued entries were excluded. Those counts are based on the October 12 capture, not a claim about the FDA list at another date.
Initial dates were read from the export and checked against the FDA detail pages’ “Date first posted” fields for all 11 ranked entries. Where a current entry had multiple initial dates across company or presentation rows, the earliest exported date was used and verified on the entry-level page. Nineteen of the 69 current entries had more than one distinct row-level initial date; none had a missing or unparseable date. Date of Update and Change Date were not used as start dates.
Elapsed days are ordinary calendar-date differences between the initial posting date and October 12, 2026; the posting day is not counted as an additional day. FDA’s displayed January 1, 2012 dates for atropine and fentanyl are used as stated. The available evidence does not establish whether those dates reflect a legacy-system convention, so no alternative date is inferred.
How to interpret the result
A long interval since first posting can help identify entries that merit closer review, but it does not show that the shortage was uninterrupted. This ranking does not reconstruct periods of resolution and recurrence, measure shortage severity, or establish how much product is available from any particular manufacturer.
FDA defines a shortage in terms of national demand or projected demand exceeding supply. Its drug shortage FAQ distinguishes national shortages from temporary local supply or distribution problems. A listing therefore does not mean there is zero national supply, nor does it determine stock at a particular pharmacy. Manufacturer-provided presentation availability can also differ within a listed entry.
For example, in the October 12, 2026 atropine sulfate injection listing, Hospira’s section, revised September 22, 2026, reported its 1 mg/10 mL syringes (NDC 0409-1630-10) as “Unavailable” and its 0.25 mg/5 mL syringes (NDC 0409-9630-05) as “Available.” The entry remained currently in shortage. FDA explains that “Available” reflects manufacturer information, not an FDA determination that the national shortage is resolved. Neither label establishes local pharmacy stock. When reviewing an entry, compare the specific presentation and its dated availability information rather than treating the entry-level status as a statement about every presentation.
The FDA listing separately identifies resolved shortages and discontinuations. A resolved status is not the same as a discontinuation, and neither belongs in a ranking restricted to entries marked current in this captured export.
Frequently asked questions
Does “5,398 days” mean atropine and fentanyl have been continuously unavailable for that long?
No. It is the elapsed time since FDA’s displayed initial posting date. The evidence does not verify continuous shortage status throughout that period.
Why does the list include 11 entries when it is a top 10?
Two entries tie for tenth at 3,262 days. Including both preserves the tie without imposing an unsupported tie-breaker.
Is this a live ranking?
No. The population and calculations reflect the FDA export and index captured October 12, 2026. That capture date is not an FDA-published dataset timestamp, and the ranking does not establish the list’s population at a later date.
Explore FDA shortage records in QOPE
Use QOPE’s Drug Shortages dataset to review shortage-record fields such as generic and brand name, company, status, presentation, availability, reason, initial posting date, and update date. For current decisions, check the FDA entry and contact a pharmacist, provider, or manufacturer as appropriate; status and availability information can change.