Meperidine hydrochloride

Drug ingredientActive Shortage

CAS 50-13-5

This drug ingredient is in active FDA shortage. At least one manufacturer cannot meet demand.

US productionNot reported

Import value, 2024$2M

Top sourceSwitzerland 86%

This chemical is not on EPA’s Toxic Substances Control Act inventory, the list behind EPA’s production survey.

Why supply is unknown

Production is reported production, not a complete census of factories. Import value and source-country shares describe a shared customs category, not a separate chemical measurement.

Where It Comes From

Customs basis: HS 293333 · basket

These shares come from HS customs code 293333, which covers 11 tracked chemicals in total. They estimate the category's origin mix, not this chemical specifically.

Source Countries

Country of origin for US imports, from Census customs data (2024).

CH 86%SwitzerlandCN 11%ChinaIT 1%ItalyUA 1%Ukraine

India
Brazil
Latvia

10 FDA-registered drug labelers

Curia New York, Inc.

EPIC PHARMA, LLC

Genus Lifesciences Inc.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.

Hospira, Inc.

Medisca Inc.

Pharma Source Direct, Inc.

Professional Compounding Centers of America dba PCCA

SpecGx LLC

Spectrum Laboratory Products, Inc.

Why It Matters

Sectors

Health

Downstream Uses

Appears in 2 drug and cosmetic product listings (FDA).

•Demerol
•Meperidine Hydrochloride

FDA Shortage Status

Whether any manufacturer currently reports this drug as in shortage on the FDA Drug Shortages database. "Active Shortage" means at least one presentation has status "current."

Active Shortage

Shortage History

Rows group FDA shortage filings by drug product. Each manufacturer makes its own FDA shortage filing, so one product can carry several reports at once: Available, Limited Availability, Unavailable or to be discontinued.

Current shortage
Meperidine Hydrochloride Injection
Shortage listed since May 30, 2025
Manufacturer reports: 1 unavailable, 1 limited, 1 available

See all current drug shortages

Chemical Identity

CAS50-13-5

PubChem CID5750

DTXSIDDTXSID30950620

FormulaC15H22ClNO2

Mol. Weight283.79 g/mol

SMILESCCOC(=O)C1(CCN(CC1)C)C2=CC=CC=C2.Cl

Data Sources

PubChem · compound 5750Retrieved 2026-04-07
FDA National Drug Code directoryRetrieved 2026-04-25
FDA Drug ShortagesRetrieved 2026-10-04
US Census international tradeReporting year: 2024 · Retrieved 2026-10-04

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Brief citations

Meperidine hydrochloride (CAS 50-13-5) https://chemicalindependence.com/chemical/50-13-5/ PubChem: 5750. Retrieved 2026-04-07. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5750 FDA National Drug Code directory: CAS 50-13-5. Retrieved 2026-04-25. https://open.fda.gov/data/ndc/ FDA Drug Shortages: CAS 50-13-5. Retrieved 2026-10-04. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/drugshortages/ US Census international trade: HS 293333 for CAS 50-13-5. Reporting year: 2024. https://usatrade.census.gov/