IV Form of Potential Covid-19 Drug in Short Supply, FDA Says

A version of the low-cost, widely used anti-inflammatory drug that’s showing promise as a Covid-19 treatment is now on the FDA’s drug shortage list.

The Food and Drug Administration Thursday updated its list to include an intravenous form of dexamethasone, which has been back-ordered and is in short supply due to a spike in demand, according to the agency’s website.

The results of a trial by the University of Oxford, released June 16, found that the generic steroid dexamethasone reduced deaths by one-third in patients on ventilators and by one-fifth in patients getting oxygen only. That trial included more than ...