Pfizer Bicillin shortage: Arizona newborn gets syphilis
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- Pfizer's Bicillin L-A, the only FDA-approved treatment for syphilis during pregnancy, has been in national shortage since July 2025, with Pfizer as the sole U.S. manufacturer.
- Gila County, Arizona public health officials submitted an emergency Bicillin request on March 27 for a pregnant syphilis patient, but the drug had not arrived by April 7 — more than 10 days later.
- A Pfizer representative told the National Coalition of STD Directors that Customer Service "can't locate" the medical request form, even though the Arizona Department of Health Services confirmed the county had completed it.
- An Arizona Department of Health Services official wrote that the mother had already delivered: "Mom has delivered and we have missed our opportunity to prevent congenital syphilis."
- The National Coalition of STD Directors asked Pfizer in February to donate a fraction of its Bicillin reserves to state health departments as a backstop; by early June, nearly four months later, Pfizer was still "evaluating" the proposal.
- Untreated maternal syphilis can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death, and surviving infants may suffer bone deformities, brain damage, blindness, or deafness, per the article.
Why it matters: With Pfizer as the sole manufacturer of the only FDA-approved prenatal syphilis treatment, any supply failure cascades directly into preventable congenital syphilis cases. The company's emergency request system took 10+ days and still missed the treatment window, and it was still "evaluating" a proactive reserve-donation proposal nearly four months after state health departments requested it, leaving them without a functioning backstop during the ongoing shortage.
