Medical Supply Shortage Stretches On After Hurricane Maria

One impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico may continue to plague hospitals in the mainland United States for quite some time.

The Beachwood Reporter
Iv Bags Medical Supplies

One impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico may continue to plague hospitals in the mainland United States for quite some time. The island hosts a significant concentration of manufacturing facilities that make medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, lured to the Caribbean island over the years by tax breaks.

The American healthcare system as a whole particularly depends on IV bags made in Puerto Rico by a Deerfield company called Baxter International. Without this important product, procedures from restoring fluids to administering painkillers suddenly become more complicated, creating a logistical strain that can spiderweb across an entire hospital's operations.

But this crisis isn't just a one-time problem. Medical manufacturers, healthcare providers and government regulators do not coordinate the flow of vital supplies or have a comprehensive way to get ahead of drug or equipment shortages. Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration don't have a thorough grasp on what medical supplies are made where, which could make it difficult to anticipate when a natural disaster or other emergency could disrupt manufacturers concentrated in a given geographic area.

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