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NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Selenium Price Soars for TPN Product That’s ‘As Old as Dirt’

Cleveland Clinic takes a $1.8 million hit

By Lynne Peeples

The price of selenium, an essential mineral and a critical component of total parenteral nutrition (TPN), has jumped by more than 10-fold per daily dose with the FDA approval of a new formulation of an old product.

“It’s not even really a drug,” said Scott Knoer, PharmD, the chief pharmacy officer at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio. “It’s been around as long as dirt.”

Selenium is among trace minerals naturally available in the soil. That means it