Hospitals' supply of two types of blood thinners wavered before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published Dec. 26 in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.
When the pandemic hit the U.S. in March 2020, the volume of anticoagulants and antiplatelets fell 43.4 percent because of a decrease in heparin, according to the research, which used IQVIA National Sales Perspective data.
The researchers from Los Angeles-based University of Southern California and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University studied the supply and demand from January 2018 to February 2021. They found that during the pandemic, the volume of the blood thinners "grew significantly more" compared to historical orders.