Hurricane season continues to strain the national supply of intravenous fluids to hospitals and dialysis centers around the country.
Flooding from Hurricane Helene in late September shut down one of the largest suppliers of IV fluids in the U.S, a factory in Marion, N.C., about 35 miles outside of Asheville. Owned by Baxter International, the plant made products like saline, sterile water for injection and other fluids that are crucial to the health care system.
Now, the company and government officials are trying to make sure existing shortages aren’t worsened by the natural disasters.
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration announced it has authorized 19 IV products for temporary importation from Canada, China, Ireland and the U.K.
Baxter is limiting how much of its IV fluids customers like hospitals can buy to prevent hoarding and to try to ensure equitable access to the supply that is available. It’s also trying to increase manufacturing at its other facilities to bridge the gap.
“We will spare no resource — human or financial — to restart operations and help ensure patients and providers have the products they need,” Baxter CEO José Almeida said in a company update.
The limits on supply, however, are easing somewhat. Baxter hopes to reopen the North Carolina facility in phases and get back to allowing customers to order close to normal amounts of certain products by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, a second facility making the crucial medical products had to close its doors this week because of Hurricane Milton. The B. Braun factory making IV fluids in Daytona Beach, Florida was not seriously impacted in the storm, company spokesperson Allison Longenhagen told NPR in an email. It will reopen Friday.
“We understand from discussions with employees that there have been no reported injuries, but many are still without power,” she wrote in an email to NPR. “We are especially thankful to the employees who remained at the site to provide updates throughout the storm.”
The factory was part of B. Braun’s plan to ramp up production of IV fluids after the North Carolina Baxter shutdown threatened the national IV fluid supply.
Before the storm, B. Braun worked with the federal government to move 60 truckloads of finished IV solutions to a safe facility outside of Hurricane Milton’s path, Longenhagen said.
The FDA hasn’t declared any new IV fluid shortages yet, but six products were already in short supply. One type of saline solution had been on the agency’s shortage list since 2018.
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