Abstract
AN open request has been made to medical practitioners by the War-time Requirements Committee appointed by the Medical Research Council to observe strict economy in prescribing ergot. This is one of a remarkably small number of important drugs which have become scarce since the War began. The primary reason for the scarcity is not the present War so much as the Spanish Civil War, for Spain has not recovered her trade in this valuable item of materiel medica, which was neglected during the period of domestic strife. Other countries which supplied substantial quantities of ergot were the U.S.S.R., Poland and particularly Portugal. Supplies of Russian material available to other countries have been steadily diminishing for the past two years, because the bulk of the output is reserved for use in Russia itself. The cessation of Polish supplies was, of course, a direct consequence of the War. In the last two years, the crops of Portuguese ergot have been below normal; indeed it is said that the last crop was a failure. Thus the world outside Germany and certain mid-European countries where sufficient quantities of the drug are produced for domestic requirements has had to depend mainly upon the diminished output of Portugal. Very large quantities of ergot, which is a fungus parasitic on the rye plant, are prescribed in general midwifery practice and in maternity hospitals, but it appears to be the view of the Medical Research Council that the prescription of ergot could be greatly rduced without prejudice to patients.
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Shortage of Ergot. Nature 146, 19 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146019c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146019c0