“Hospitals across the United States are reeling from a shortage of IV fluids after Hurricane Helene struck a major manufacturing plant in North Carolina, prompting some to postpone elective surgeries and others to conserve supply by restricting use,” Fenit Nirappil and Rachel Roubein write over at The Washington Post. “The Food and Drug Administration formally declared a shortage for three fluid products Friday, allowing some hospitals and facilities to manufacture their own supply. The F.D.A. last week had allowed shipments of IV fluids from other countries. But complications make it difficult to immediately end the shortage. Compounding facilities that typically don’t manufacture IV fluids need access to sterile water and supplies such as bags to make their own products. The American Hospital Association estimates that less than a fifth of hospitals are able to do so. ‘If you turn off a hospital supply of IV fluids, it’s like turning off the water supply to your house,’ said Chris DeRienzo, the hospital association’s chief physician executive. ‘We need to have a continuous, consistent flow to the hospitals, especially as we are walking into the winter respiratory virus season.’ More than 86 percent of health-care providers nationwide are experiencing an IV fluid shortage in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, according to a survey of more than 250 providers released Thursday by Premier, a heath-care technology and supply chain company. Nearly 17 percent of respondents had canceled elective surgeries, and another 58 percent were considering doing so in the near term.” Fenit Nirappil and Rachel Roubein “IV fluid shortage due to hurricane prompts hospitals to postpone surgeries,” The Washington Post.
