Hospitals across the U.S. are already facing critical shortages of IV fluids after Hurricane Maria damaged manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico, and now the FDA is warning of a new product shortage exacerbated by the storm — injectable amino acids for severely ill patients and premature babies.
Here are four things to know.
1. The injectable amino acids are used to provide nutrients intravenously to patients who are unable to ingest food.
2. While intravenous amino acid supplies were already low before Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico, the storm worsened the shortage by disrupting the supply chains of drugmakers in the area.
3. Baxter International, which was hit hard by the hurricane, is not only a main supplier of saline, but is also a major supplier of amino acid medical products to the U.S. market.
4. To help mitigate the product shortage, the FDA will temporarily allow importation of amino acids for pediatric and adult formulations of the intravenous amino acids.