IV shortages elsewhere, but not yet in RI

By Koby Gartner
Posted 1/9/18

By KOBY GARTNER Hospitals nationwide are experiencing shortages of intravenous bags, according to the Wall Street Journal. These specific IV bags, called small volume parenterals (SVPs), were reported to be in short supply nationally. Despite these

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IV shortages elsewhere, but not yet in RI

Posted

Hospitals nationwide are experiencing shortages of intravenous bags, according to the Wall Street Journal. These specific IV bags, called small volume parenterals (SVPs), were reported to be in short supply nationally.

Despite these shortages across the nation, Care New England, encompassing Butler Hospital, Kent Hospital, Memorial Hospital and Women and Infants Hospital in Rhode Island, appears to remain in steady supply.

James Beardsworth, Director of Marketing Communications at Care New England, said that all patient needs are currently being met, and they are working hard to make sure that patients are given the care and supplies needed while shortages were not a current cause for concern for these hospitals.

Baxter International Inc., one of the main suppliers of these IV bags and holder of 44 percent of the U.S. IV solutions market, has had its three factories located in Puerto Rico devastated by Hurricane Maria this past fall. This has resulted in a significant declination in production of SVPs, and a dwindling supply for hospitals, with some reporting only a couple days supply of IV bags available, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Some hospitals have resorted to other means, instead using syringes to administer needed drugs to patients, with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston going as far as using glass bottles to hold saline solutions where bags are in low supply. This is proving to be an issue for larger U.S. hospitals, some of which are using hundreds of thousands of IV bags daily.

This is occurring in the wake of the flu season, as influenza begins to spread in the colder months. The Rhode Island Department of Health stated, “The flu is ‘widespread’ in Rhode Island, triggering the state’s requirement for unvaccinated healthcare workers in hospitals and many other types of healthcare facilities to wear surgical masks.”

Data from the Center for Disease Control Prevention has reported a spike in physician office visits for influenza-like illness, which has more than doubled since the beginning of December, from around a half percent of visits to almost 2 percent. This would put patients at even greater risk, should IV shortages spread into the Rhode Island.

According to the New York Times, the FDA is currently in the process of working with other producers to help maintain a healthy supply of intravenous solutions during this shortage. They are worried there could be shortages of up to 40 necessary medicines due to the hurricane’s effects on the factories.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner of the Food and Drug administration, stated back in October that these plants were running below 50 percent capacity, some as low as 20 percent, and less. He was concerned that if conditions were not to improve soon, then we could see even more shortages coming in the beginning of this year.

Baxter International issued the following response to an inquiry from the Beacon, “All three of Baxter’s manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico are connected to the electrical grid and running. All Facilities will continue to have backup diesel generation in case of power interruptions, which still occur frequently.”

Baxter International stated they are making an effort to support the decrease in production by working with the FDA to import products from facilities in Ireland, Australia, Canada, Mexico, England and Italy to make up for lost product, while exploring other opportunities to address product demand.

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