The FDA (click here) is taking steps to help with a worsening shortage of saline in the U.S., including asking that Baxter saline plants in Puerto Rico get their power restored ahead of others.
December 6, 2017
Baxter, a major manufacturer of intravenous fluids and bags, (click here) has three factories in Puerto Rico. In an email, a spokesperson at Baxter said 10 weeks after the hurricane hit the island, one of their factories in Puerto Rico is still being powered by a diesel generator. The other two factories are back on the electrical grid, but power is intermittent. Severe damage to roads and bridges is also slowing the recovery.
IV fluids like saline and dextrose are the lifeblood of hospitals. They’re needed to deliver medications and rehydrate patients. Hospital pharmacies use the smaller IV bags to mix medications. But they’ve been in short supply, especially since the hurricane, so pharmacists have relied on the larger bags. Now those larger bags are running out, too....
