The Biden administration announced it has activated wartime powers in the Defense Production Act to accelerate the rebuilding of a major U.S. intravenous fluid factory destroyed in the terrorist attack. hurricane helen last month. Damage to factories in North Carolina is becoming more serious nationwide. Lack of IV fluidsays hospitals are still postponing some surgeries and other procedures as a result.
About 60% of the nation’s IV supplies depended on production from factories run by medical supply company Baxter. damaged by storm.
“Ensuring people have the medical supplies they need is a top priority for our government, which is why we are working closely with Baxter to clean and repair the facility, including invoking the Defense Production Act to restart production as soon as possible.” We’re here to help,” a Department of Health and Human Services official told CBS News on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Federal Office of Strategic Preparedness and Response said: federal government had used the law’s authority to push Baxter to the forefront of contractors needed to build the factory. ASPR officials are currently considering other ways in which the powers could be accelerated. Rebuilding in progress Or we can support the start-up of other domestic manufacturers.
of defense production act It was previously used by the Trump and Biden administrations to expedite manufacturing of items such as: test swab, respirator and vaccine During the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the plant is not operating, the Food and Drug Administration has given Baxter the green light to import IV fluid from other plants around the world. Officials said they also supported plans to airlift more supplies to the United States.
“The majority of my time, including today, is spent on very basic supply chain analysis across all the products we regulate,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told a meeting of the Food and Drug Administration’s scientific advisers earlier this month. It turns out that the money has been spent on problems.”
the caliph warned shortage This is likely to worsen in the coming years, with many generic drug manufacturers rushing to cut costs amid growing threats to the supply chain.
The FDA announced Friday that it had declared three more IV fluids in short supply, adding to ongoing shortages of other IV fluids due to factory closures.
“We are experiencing shortages and supply chain disruptions, often due to climate change Or an international conflict. And it’s a very flammable mixture,” Khalif said.
Some hospitals still face shortages
Baxter told CBS News that while the amount of IV fluid it is supplying to customers is increasing, some hospitals still don’t have enough. Baxter said it aims to have 100% recovery of its most in-demand products by the end of the year.
“Baxter has increased quotas for some fluids, but further restricted others. One liter bags of 0.9% saline, our most commonly used fluid, will be on backorder for at least three weeks. Half of them are not expected to be shipped,” Dr. Jonathan said. Stollkamp, chief medical officer for Pennsylvania Main Line Health, told CBS News in a statement Tuesday.
Stollkamp had said before CBS News Philadelphia reported that the system has pivoted to conservation strategies such as relying on Gatorade for in-hospital hydration and reserving IV fluids only for the neediest patients.
In Massachusetts, a spokesman for General Brigham said Tuesday that election proceedings remain postponed “at least until Wednesday, October 16.”
The health system has not yet increased its order limits from Baxter, but said it is awaiting “additional one-time shipments this week to address urgent concerns.”
“We use hundreds of thousands of liters of these fluids across our systems every month, so even the smallest savings make a big difference when it comes to maintaining supplies,” says Readiness and Continuity Responsible. said Dr. Paul Bidder. General Brigham’s officer, Mass. told CBS News Boston on monday.
University of Virginia hospitals “will be able to proceed with most scheduled elective surgeries” this week, according to a spokesperson, but “surgeries that use large amounts of irrigation fluid” at the university’s main medical center will still be curtailed. It is said that they are doing so.
UVA Health spokesperson Eric Swensen told CBS News that “postponed surgeries will be rescheduled as soon as possible once more critical IV supplies become available.”
IV Supply Savings
Health officials have been calling on all hospitals in recent weeks to prepare to conserve IV fluids, even if they don’t face immediate shortages. Some large health systems contacted by CBS News said they were able to avoid shortages but were still carefully managing supply.
The federal Veterans Health Administration, which runs the nation’s largest integrated health care system, said it has not seen any cancellations due to shortages.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs will closely track inventory and shipments, level supplies between facilities as needed, and maximize existing supply,” VA spokesman Terrence Hayes said in a statement Tuesday. “We are following general conservation guidelines for this purpose.”
Spokespeople for the Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai, which operate some of the nation’s largest acute-care hospitals, said there was no need to cancel or postpone any procedures.
The University of Minnesota’s M Health Fairview reported. CBS News Minnesota The hospital was forced to reschedule patient appointments last week, but on Tuesday it announced it would resume “all appointments as normal” starting Friday.
Some hospitals that treat “vulnerable patient populations” are also receiving increased supplies from Baxter, Children’s Hospital of Minnesota told CBS News in a statement.
However, the hospital said it is still taking “extra precautions” to conserve supplies and has not yet received a “full allocation” from Baxter for the recovery.
“While we have not yet delayed any proceedings, this is a serious and rapidly changing situation that requires real-time decision-making. Leaders across our organization are monitoring the situation and working to take action. We meet daily,” Children’s Minnesota said.