Hospitals scramble as storms worsen IV fluid shortages

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

5 hours ago


Hospitals across the U.S. are postponing elective surgeries, giving some patients Gatorade and using other workarounds to conserve IV fluids in the face of a nationwide shortage that officials fear will intensify with the arrival of Hurricane Milton.

The big picture: Hurricane Helene swamped a Baxter International plant in North Carolina that supplies more than 60% of the nation's IV solution, and a second key facility operated by B. Braun in Daytona Beach, Florida, is in the path of the latest storm.

86% of health providers already are experiencing IV fluid shortages, according to purchasing organization Premier Inc., and almost 1 in 5 have already canceled elective surgeries and other procedures.

Driving the news: The Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday worked to move IV products out of the projected path of Milton out of concern that the storm could be "further disrupting an already fragile market," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote in a letter to providers.

Officials also were approving airlifts of IV fluids from overseas manufacturing plants to address shortages stemming from the closure of the Baxter plant, the New York Times reported.

The saline, dextrose and sterile water fluids have a wide variety of uses, from treating blood infections and administering chemotherapies to keeping patients hydrated, per the Times.

Hospitals like Mass General Brigham are already withholding IV fluids in some cases and giving patients Gatorade or Pedialyte to stay hydrated.

"We use in the area of hundreds of thousands of liters of these fluids across our entire system each month," chief preparedness and continuity officer Paul Biddinger told WGBH. "And so even little bits of conservation make a big difference in terms of of preserving our supply."

The system is encouraging oral hydration with drinks like Gatorade when possible, and not preparing IV fluid bags unless health care teams are certain they'll need them.

Zoom in: The Food and Drug Administration and Baxter are identifying alternative IV, dialysis and nutrition products and the agency is also speeding up reviews of manufacturers' requests to extend the shelf life of products, Becerra wrote in the letter.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/10/10/hurricanes-milton-iv-fluid-shortages

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Link to HHS PRESS RELEASE - Letter to Health Care Leaders and Stakeholders on Impacts of Hurricane Helene from Secretary Becerra

[ismnotwasm]

1. Yeah we just got the alert

I’m all the way in Seattle. I do a lot of dialysis, so we will start with 300ml of normal saline instead of the 1000ml—which should be fine in most cases. On the floors we will try to conserve at this point. This isn’t the first time, but it’s a pain

[littlemissmartypants]

2. Remind me...

How many manufacturers do we have and where are they?

Baxter initially claimed the problem was due to the roads being closed. What a joke.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. There is another located in FL that got spared fortunately

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/milton-spares-daytona-beach-florida-factory-critical-supplier-114684951

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Call me a cynic...

There's still time.

[Grins]

3. "plant...that supplies MORE than 60% of the nation's IV solution,"

And there’s the problem. No company should have such a monopoly.

It’s saline, sugar and salt. How hard can it be to manufacture? And how did Baxter become that monopoly?

[BumRushDaShow]

4. "It's saline, sugar and salt. How hard can it be to manufacture?"

Very hard. And that's because those solutions need to be STERILE and that means meticulous manufacturing conditions to maintain that sterility... This is not counting any instance of a faux pas happening in solution concentrations and/or having contaminants in the water and/or active ingredients. And then there are the storage temperature requirements (particularly when you are talking warehouses).