Hospitals across the U.S. are taking steps to conserve their supplies of IV fluids after Hurricane Helene struck a critical manufacturing plant belonging to the country’s biggest supplier.

Baxter International, a medical technology company responsible for making IV fluids for most U.S. hospitals, said Sunday that it would temporarily close production at its North Cove, North Carolina-based facility because of flooding from Helene, raising concerns about a potential nationwide shortage.

IV fluids are used to deliver drugs or water with electrolytes directly into a patient’s bloodstream. They’re also critical for surgery, when a person is unable to eat or drink, to keep them hydrated. Baxter also makes specialty fluids, such as peritoneal dialysis fluid, which helps patients with kidney failure filter waste from their blood, as well as irrigation fluids, used during procedures to clean or flush wounds.

  • Badabinski@kbin.earth
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    2 months ago

    God damn, we really need to subsidize geographically diverse production of shit like this. Maybe the subsidies could also come with some strings, like “don’t be a price-gouging turd” or “allow your workers to unionize” or something.

  • Crackhappy@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    My partner who works in medical supply for very large hospital groups literally was telling me how bad this was yesterday.

  • zephorah@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    This isn’t new. Same thing happened in 2017 when Hurricane Maria hit (the one where T threw paper towels at people after.)

    Saline shortage. So they could have shifted the production location for such a vital item. There was time. And yet here we are. Again.

    • 667@lemmy.radio
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      2 months ago

      You don’t understand. This was before the 2017Q4 call and I was two bonuses away from my second vacation yacht in Bora Bora.

      If we had opened another facility, shareholder value would have been greatly diluted until it was fully online and my dream boat would have to wait until after next year’s tax season and I already had a down payment on it.

  • TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    Geez. Having critical stuff like that based near the coastline is a real double edged sword

    • booly@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      North Cove is more than 200 miles (320km) from the coast, in the mountains, and about 500 miles (800km) from where Helene made landfall.