Florida Sens. Marco Rubio (R) and Rick Scott (R) are questioning why the Biden administration hasn’t performed extra to leverage home IV fluid manufacturing within the wake of shortages attributable to Hurricane Helene.
Hospitals have been left scrambling after the storm flooded a Baxter manufacturing plant in Marion, N.C.
The plant makes about 60 p.c of the IV fluid within the nation, together with hydration and dialysis options. The ensuing scarcity pressured hospitals to ration provides. Some stated they have been suspending elective surgical procedures, and a few have been limiting using IV luggage besides in circumstances of emergency.
“Although the administration attempted to help mitigate the shortage of IV supply in the weeks following the hurricane, we remain concerned that the delayed execution of these efforts may lead to longer-term consequences,” the senators wrote.
In a letter to Well being and Human Providers (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, the senators requested why the company has but to invoke the Protection Manufacturing Act to assist small producers enhance their manufacturing and shut the provision hole whereas Baxter repairs its services.
Baxter’s North Cove plant shut down in late September, when file quantities of rainfall from Helene inundated western North Carolina communities, together with Marion. Federal officers subsequently accredited short-term imports of IV fluid from Baxter services in Eire, the UK, Canada and China.
HHS invoked the Protection Manufacturing Act to assist Baxter acquire supplies wanted to scrub and rebuild the North Cove facility. The authorization gave Baxter precedence entry to a selected materials wanted to proceed the remediation course of and put together for the restart of manufacturing.
However Rubio and Scott questioned why the company hasn’t additionally invoked the act to assist different, smaller corporations.
“While importing supply from approved manufacturers abroad can be helpful in the short-term, HHS must do more to expand approvals and resources to all capable domestic IV fluid manufacturers by invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) and other agency supportive actions to increase domestic production,” they wrote.
In addition they requested whether or not the federal authorities plans on extending the shelf lifetime of all sterile IV and peritoneal dialysis options, relatively than simply sure Baxter merchandise.
The Meals and Drug Administration this week stated a number of varieties of intravenous and sterile fluids made by Baxter can be utilized as much as two years after manufacturing, as an alternative of the earlier one yr.
Baxter on Thursday stated it had restarted the highest-throughput IV options manufacturing line, however the earliest that new North Cove product might begin to ship is late November. Baxter stated it nonetheless doesn’t have a timeline for when North Cove manufacturing might be absolutely restored to pre-hurricane ranges.
“HHS must also commit to greater transparency in its actions regarding the current available supply so healthcare providers can plan accordingly,” the senators added.
