Availability and quantity of antidotes in New Zealand.

Overseas investigations have shown that many healthcare institutions are understocked of antidotes to treat these patients. 1–4 Despite a recent study to the contrary, 5 the paper by Fountain and colleagues, published in this issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal, suggests similar problems in New Zealand hospitals with shortcomings in hospital pharmacy stocks and resupply. 6 The paper raises concerns that many antidotes would not be stocked in sufficient quantity to manage a single 100 kg poisoned patient for 8 hours at most New Zealand hospitals.