An IV fluid maker in Florida temporarily closed down Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Milton.
A limited supply of IV fluid, stemming from damage caused by Hurricane Helene, is forcing some hospitals across the U.S. to postpone elective surgery and other nonemergency procedures to safeguard their stock.
Catastrophic flooding from Helene struck a facility owned by the country’s largest IV fluidmanufacturer, Baxter International, in North Carolina, leading to its temporary closure and reducing shipments to hospitals.
Adding to the anxiety, B. Braun Medical, the country’s second-largest maker of IV fluids, announced Tuesday that it would temporarily close two of its facilities in Daytona Beach, Florida, in anticipation of Hurricane Milton’s making landfall.
Is there something deeper going on with IV fluids? I was in hospital in Aus a few months back, and they had an IV fluids shortage as well, long before any hurricane in a far off country occurred.
There have been a few problems recently with pharma factories failing inspections in regards to sterile production environments. The last one I heard about was a while ago, but I think I remember a pharma company deciding to close some factories and stop making those products because coming up to code would be too expensive and the products aren’t that profitable.