Each day the situation in Puerto Rico grows even more dire. We already know that most residents on the island are still without power and that, apparently, the federal government and Puerto Rican government can’t come to agreement on when power will be restored. Meanwhile, food and water shortages remain and the United Nations has weighed in—citing a concern for the human rights of Puerto Ricans and calling for the removal of regulatory and financial barriers to the island’s recovery.
In yet another concerning development in the midst of this disaster and its botched recovery efforts, IV production in Puerto Rico is on hold which has an impact for hospitals and medical patients across the entire United States.
[Edie Gigot, Vice President of Clinical Operations for ARJ Infusion Services,] said pharmacists and doctors across the country are feeling the effects of the manufacturing shutdown of hospital IVs caused by Hurricane Maria. A large portion of the IVs are manufactured in Puerto Rico and many of the factories have not yet reopened. [...]
With so many patients who rely on daily treatments at ARJ, the impact of the IV shortage is far-reaching.
“There’s not a whole lot you can do because ultimately we don’t know how long the shortage is going last for," Gigot said. "That’s why we do the things that we do such as work closely with our physicians and community partners to ensure there’s no interruption for the patient."
This is horrific. Not only are the needs of the people on the island not being met (including their own medical emergency needs) but because power is still out, people aren’t at work (a whole issue in itself because, you know, people need money to survive) and production of vital medical supplies like IVs isn’t happening—a problem for Puerto Ricans on the island and folks on the mainland.
“We can work to buy larger volume bags and transfer them to smaller volume bags, which does increase man hours for us but still ensures our patients receive the medication that they need,” Gigot said.
It is also affecting local blood banks. [...]
“We’re at the mercy of our distributors and the manufacturers, so when there’s a shortage such as that, it really depends on how much supply really exists outside of where its been manufactured,” Gigot said.
It’s unfathomable how the federal government and local government cannot seem to figure this out. The situation is so desperate that state governors like Gov. Andrew Cuomo from New York are choosing to send their own utility workers and trucks to repair the power grid. Guess Cuomo knows well the old adage, “if you want something done right, do it yourself.” It shouldn’t come to this but since it has, maybe the possibility of millions of patients on the mainland US dying from lack of medical supplies will finally cause the federal government to come up with an adequate and swift response. Then again, with this administration in charge (who we know don’t care about anyone but themselves), it’s not likely. Shame on them.