Posted on 11/30/2024 3:10:40 PM PST by cuz1961
When Hurricane Helene struck in late September, it flooded the largest IV fluid factory in the United States. The Baxter International facility in western North Carolina had been producing 1.5 million IV bags a day, 60 percent of the nation’s supply. The company immediately began rationing its products, and the shortage sent ripples through the health-care industry.
IV saline and fluids with carbohydrates are used regularly in hospitals and other clinical settings, both for hydration and to deliver medications. The shortage has left facilities scrambling to figure out the best use of the IV fluid bags they have.
But some hospital administrators see an opportunity in the IV fluid shortage to question standard practices. “There has been increasing literature over the last 10 to 20 years that indicates maybe you don’t need to use as much,” said Sam Elgawly, chief of resource stewardship at Inova, a health system in the D.C. area. “And this accelerated our sort of innovation and testing of that idea.”
Elgawly said he’s keeping one question front of mind: “How often are we actually giving it more than we need to, where we just keep it going because a patient’s in the hospital?”
He told KFF Health News that across the system IV fluid usage has dropped 55 percent since early October.
Hospitals such as those in the Inova system are using different ways to conserve, including giving some medications intravenously but without a dedicated IV fluid bag, known as “pushing” the medication.
“You don’t even need a bag at all. You just give the medication without the bag,” he said.
Simpler conservation measures could become common after the shortage abates, said Vince Green, chief medical officer for Pipeline Health, a small hospital system in the Los Angeles area that serves mainly people on Medicare and Medicaid. Green said medical staffers are encouraging patients to drink Gatorade or water instead of defaulting to IVs for hydration.
And medical staff make sure to use up the entire bag before starting another.
“If they come in with IV fluids that the paramedics have started, let’s continue it. If it saves half a bag of fluids, so be it, but it adds up over time,” Green said.
The North Carolina factory has reopened and is producing some IV fluid products, but it’s not up to prehurricane production levels. Some hospital administrators are anticipating dealing with the shortage through the end of the year.
i think it may even be connected to how and why he died.
he was between chemo regimes and waiting on the next course but was suffering from dehydration due to nausea and unable to keep anything , including water, down and his family and med facility was haveing trouble sourcing iv bags , saline iv bags, when he developed a single blood clot in his arm from wrist to shoulder.
i wonder if he had been able to get the saline iv bags readily if he would not have developed the clot.
Even if it costs slightly more, would it not be better to make our drugs here, including generics. Like we used to in Puerto Rico I believe? And the rest of our medical supplies as well? For security reasons if nothing else?
I just checked with them. They say:
“Baxter International aims to restore full production at their North Cove facility by the end of 2024. They plan to reach 90% to 100% of their pre-Hurricane Helene production levels for certain IV products by then. The recovery process involves phased increases in production capacity, with ongoing remediation efforts and support from regulatory agencies.
1. Facility Remediation: Baxter is working around the clock to assess and repair the damage caused by flooding. They are coordinating with local, state, and federal officials to expedite the process.
2. Supply Chain Adjustments: To mitigate the supply disruption, Baxter has implemented a protective allocation process for their IV products. They are also reallocating capacity from other facilities and importing products temporarily.
3. Employee and Community Support: Baxter has committed $1.5 million in donations to support recovery efforts in the local community. They are also matching employee donations at a 2:1 ratio to further aid relief efforts.
4. Regulatory Coordination: Baxter is working closely with regulatory agencies like the FDA, HHS, and FEMA to ensure compliance and support for their recovery efforts.
5. Communication with Customers: Baxter is keeping their customers informed about the status of their supply and the steps being taken to restore full production.”
The end of 2024 is 30 days from now. I’m not sure they’ll make it. I wish them a speedy recovery to full production.
I don’t know why the incentives to manufacture in Puerto Rico ended.
But any compounding pharmacy can put 9 grams of NaCl in a liter of water for injection and autoclave.
That shouldn’t be too difficult.
Ideas that come to mind are room humidification and reducing salt and sugar in the food.
And we should also spread out where things are manufactured so a disaster in one area does not have a disproportionate impact on our supply.
I have occasionally compared it to using a couple of huge container ships as opposed to a flotilla of smaller ships.
If you lose one of the container ships you are in a world of hurt but if you lose even a half dozen of the small ships you can adjust more easily.
But I am one of those people who is risk adverse.
thankyou for your imput
input
Fema is for sure hampering efforts there. They are tasked with allowing as many white people to die as possible.
My husband was hospitalized in August 2024. The bags, which he needed ‘round the clock, were $3,000 each. At first they were on the rack thing two at a time.
I’m in the hospital right now for the third time over the last couple of months. I cannot eat and can drink only so much. I demanded an IV bag this morning because I’m so dehydrated. The same bag has been running over eight hours. Ridiculous-I’m still dehydrated.
I know what is going to happen. Hospitals will permanently cut costs by not utilizing bags even after the supply is restored.
It’s irresponsible to source such critical supplies from a single manufacturer.
Or an orderly can take the empty bag in the bathroom, dump in a tablespoon or so of salt and maybe some powdered glucose, fill it from the tap, and you're good to go.
There’s also a severe shortage of iv bags in Australia. It’s strange.
I went to the emergency room with anemia. They gave me a whole 1L bag of Ringer’s. But I do remember someone mentioning an IV bag shortage.
Sorry for your brother and your family.
And right there is another industry we need more of. However, iirc, this shortage has been going on for years.
The water is contaminated so I’m questioning the rush.
Maybe I’m showing my age, but I remember, dimly, IV’s feeding from glass bottles.
I rememeber IVs from glass bottles too.
yup, we need to become self sufficient again
aka
MAGA..
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