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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Shortage of Medical Saline causes hospital problems in USA
2014-06-27
This is not in some 3rd world banana republic, this is happening in the US, not overseas.
Hospitals across the country are struggling to deal with a shortage of one of their essential medical supplies. Manufacturers are rationing saline -- a product used all over the hospital to clean wounds, mix medications and treat dehydration. Now drug companies say they won't be able to catch up with demand until next year.

Scott Crandall, director of medical supply contracts at Novation, a group buying organization in Texas that manages contracts for 2,000 hospitals across the country says he's been hearing from manufacturers that increased FDA scrutiny is interfering with production, [combined with a more intense flu season last winter that greatly in erased usage and demand].
FDA has market orders. It's done to help "control" supply and demand. The original idea was that FDA didn't want excess capacity in manufacturing drugs since that would be wasteful. But now it means you can only produce as much of a drug or supply as your market order allows. If company A can't turn out enough saline bags, company B (which could) can't make up the difference, because they have a maximum on their market order.

And you thought the USA was still a market economy...
Crandall says inspections and maintenance require shutting down machines. And when machines aren't operating, less saline is getting shipped. Last winter, he says maintenance closures "slowed production down, 10 to 20 percent."

"There is no spot market. You can't buy it like pork bellies or grains or oil. You cannot go on a marketplace and order a certain amount," U.S. companies also don't have the capacity to ramp up production. They only have so many machines, and a lot of them are tied up producing other essential drugs. Building new facilities is hardly an option.
In part because of the market orders. In a true market, the pressure for more of something would lead a capitalist to build the capacity. But not here.
The burden ultimately falls on hospitals, clinics, and dialysis centers to come up with their own workarounds. And all that staff time adds up. Hospitals spend $216 million a year on the labor costs of managing drug shortages, according to Erin Fox, a professor at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.

Now that the industry has indicated the saline shortage will extend through the end of the year, Fox estimates this will be the most expensive drug shortage in history."The suppliers have already signaled to the market that they plan on increasing price significantly," he said. "And when I say that, it could double and triple in some aspects."
Posted by:OldSpook

#10  Way back when, my wife had some of the earliest contact lenses. And found her eyes sensitive to the preservatives in the only available saline. So I got a bottle of reagent NaCl and a jug of distilled water and mixed it up myself a pint at a time. She can still see, so I guess I did it ok. Cost a lot less too, not insignificant to a starving grad student.
Posted by: Glenmore   2014-06-27 19:38  

#9  Wez been found out!
Posted by: Der Toffeewaffen   2014-06-27 19:24  

#8  That's cuz the Nazi ghoul people are using for experiments!
Posted by: Speregum Fillmore3332   2014-06-27 18:48  

#7  I expect the "rules" may be relaxed should a hospital's cupboard become bare. Sharing & swapping can only go so far.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2014-06-27 16:08  

#6  ObamaCare solution: "rub some dirt on it, Johnny"
Posted by: Frank G   2014-06-27 14:14  

#5  Government Regulation - so bad it even screws up the making of salt water.
Posted by: OldSpook   2014-06-27 12:20  

#4  The FDA does more harm than good.
Posted by: DarthVader   2014-06-27 12:19  

#3  No, can't be done on site. JACHO rules prohibit that because of the (real) risk of infection.
Posted by: Steve White   2014-06-27 12:01  

#2  Expensive, but it can be done?
Just a matter of time, personnel, equipment and $. Cost per unit might well be 10X (or more) than what they are used to paying, however.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2014-06-27 11:15  

#1  This can be made on site if necessary? Expensive, but it can be done?
Posted by: Shipman   2014-06-27 11:05  

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