In addition to the unspeakable hardships Hurricane Helene unleashed on residents of North Carolina, it has also impacted healthcare across the nation.
The wind and flood waters damaged Baxter International’s North Cove plant in Marion, N.C. That plant produces 60% of the IV fluids used by U.S. healthcare facilities, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA).
In a letter to President Biden, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack the federal government should act to prevent a shortage from becoming a crisis.
“Our members are already reporting substantial shortages of these lifesaving and life-supporting products,” Pollack wrote. “Patients across America are already feeling this impact, which will only deepen in the coming days and weeks unless much more is done to alleviate the situation and minimize the impact on patient care.”
Requested help
Pollack offered a number of productive steps the federal government could take, including:
Direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to:
Declare a shortage of sterile IV solutions, which will permit the use of certain flexibilities not otherwise available to health care providers.
Provide flexibilities to allow hospitals and health systems to prepare sterile IV solutions in their own pharmacies and waive the 1-mile rule so that hospitals and health systems can distribute these products among their facilities without a patient specific order.
Identify international manufacturers capable of producing sterile IV solutions and their appropriate containers.
Extend the shelf-life of all sterile IV and peritoneal dialysis solutions that are beyond or nearing their expiration date.
Declare a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act and/or the Stafford Act and request that Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra declare a national Public Health Emergency in order to create the circumstances that will allow for waivers of Medicare/Medicaid rules and regulations.
Invoke the Defense Production Act to:
Require appropriate manufacturers to prioritize and accept contracts for materials and services necessary to produce sterile IV solutions and their containers.
Incentivize appropriate manufacturers to expand the production and supply of the critical materials and goods needed to produce sterile IV solutions and their containers.
Direct the Department of Defense to make transportation available for emergency supplies from other international sources identified by the FDA.
Remove any barriers to the importation of sterile IV and peritoneal dialysis solutions from abroad that are approved by the European Union.
Secure transport to domestic distribution centers for such supplies to be allocated to hospitals and other health care providers in need.
Direct the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to be on alert for and intervene in matters related to price gouging.
Appoint a person within the Administration to serve as the point of contact for matters related to the IV solution shortage.
Meanwhile, Baxter International has paused all shipments and has told hospitals that it will implement allocations later this week.