Can we treat urgent medical conditions without adequate drugs?

Abstract

Emergency Medicine does not represent a simple collection of various medical conditions, but rather an urgent approach to life threatening conditions. This urgent approach progresses as fast as the science in medicine does. Modern protocols for treatment of injured and ill patients are introduced, demanding more and more knowledge and skills as well as more modern equipment and wider spectrum of drugs. However, innovations are not followed by changes within the lists of medications set by National Health Insurance Fund of Serbia (NHIFS). Paper describes drugs necessary for adequate pre-hospital treatment that are not available to the physicians due to administrative barriers. On one hand, there are drugs from B list that are necessary for treatment, and are approved for use by NHIFS at hospital level only. The use of any of these drugs at pre-hospital level may lead to severe penalties to the physician in case of complications or adverse reactions in a patient following the treatment. On the other hand, there are drugs from D list which are also necessary for the urgent treatment of patients with life threatening conditions, according to latest recommendations. These drugs may be applied at pre-hospital level, but their procurement is complicated due to NHIFS regulations and that's why some of them may rarely be used (Propafenone and Magnesium sulfate). We particularly emphasize that one of the most effective drugs for the conversion of heart rhythm, Adenosine (6 mg/ml and 10mg/ml ampoule), is not registered in the Republic of Serbia and therefore cannot be used at pre-hospital level. Through these exclusive administrative barriers adequate treatment is rendered impossible while the system of urgent treatment of patients with life threatening conditions at pre-hospital level is degraded.