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Saline shortage has hospitals scrambling as flu season hits

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Hawkeye10

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A saline-solution shortage worsened by Hurricane Maria has hospitals worried, even as staff turn to creative solutions such as breaking out the Gatorade.

The shortage of the ubiquitous intravenous bags of saline has been going on since 2014, but the supply got hit even further when the hurricane damaged the country’s biggest supplier in Puerto Rico last fall.

And as flu season starts to kick into high gear, hospitals and clinics worry the demand will get pushed over the edge.

“This is a serious situation and right now we are at the limits of our conservation and adaptation strategy,” said Dr. Paul Biddinger, director of the Center for Disaster Medicine and vice chairman for emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...ls-scrambling-flu-season-gets-started-n836661

America @ 2018.......we cant even do the most basic of the basic things a society must get right right anymore.

This crash up of a soon to be former super power is going to be spectacular.

Strap yourselves in.

4.gif
 
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Unitedwestand13 said:
Maybe it would have wise to invest more in aiding the recovery of Puerto Rico.
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It is salt water in a bag, we can make it anywhere, we just dont bother....cant be bothered.

And the geniuses sit around scratching their balls trying to figure out how they lost the little people.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...ls-scrambling-flu-season-gets-started-n836661

America @ 2018.......we cant even do the most basic of the basic things a society must get right right anymore.

This crash up of a soon to be former super power is going to be spectacular.

Strap yourselves in.

4.gif
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Seeing as saline is so important, you would think they should have reserves hidden away somewhere.

Then hurricane really screwed that place up, more so then their poor handling of their own situation did.
Though to be honest, no mount of help from us could have done anything. Especially with how much they were doing to damage the relief efforts on their end.

I guess we just have to bare with it for a while.
 
Oborosen said:
Seeing as saline is so important, you would think they should have reserves hidden away somewhere.

Then hurricane really screwed that place up, more so then their poor handling of their own situation did.
Though to be honest, no mount of help from us could have done anything. Especially with how much they were doing to damage the relief efforts on their end.

I guess we just have to bare with it for a while.
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The shortage of the ubiquitous intravenous bags of saline has been going on since 2014
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This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out.
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Yoda Carlin
 
Hawkeye10 said:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...ls-scrambling-flu-season-gets-started-n836661

America @ 2018.......we cant even do the most basic of the basic things a society must get right right anymore.

This crash up of a soon to be former super power is going to be spectacular.

Strap yourselves in.

4.gif
Click to expand...

Why is it so hard to produce saline? It's salt in water. Which is why I never understood how the hospitals could get away with charging over $100 for a bag, when it cost them under a dollar, but that's another thread.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
It is salt water in a bag, we can make it anywhere, we just dont bother....cant be bothered.

And the geniuses sit around scratching their balls trying to figure out how they lost the little people.
Click to expand...


Perfect!
 
holbritter said:
Why is it so hard to produce saline? It's salt in water. Which is why I never understood how the hospitals could get away with charging over $100 for a bag, when it cost them under a dollar, but that's another thread.
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How is it that America cant make $100 bags a salt water in the quantity needed is the big question.

What about markets....supply and demand and all that jazz??!!

Is any of that chatter real?

IT USED TO BE
 
Hawkeye10 said:
How is it that America cant make $100 bags a salt water in the quantity needed is the big question.

What about markets....supply and demand and all that jazz??!!

Is any of that chatter real?

IT USED TO BE
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Yeah, but if we made those bags for 100, the hospitals would charge 1,000. But what do we care, insurance pays it. Ok.....digressing again.
 
holbritter said:
Yeah, but if we made those bags for 100, the hospitals would charge 1,000. But what do we care, insurance pays it. Ok.....digressing again.
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I feel YA, so much is being botched, and almost no one can be bothered to care, or often even notice.

This is where the Failed Intelligentsia has deposited us.

This time the failure might kill people directly.

WE USED TO BE BETTER!
 
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I'll tell you what......this is a very bad flu season, The President needs to get on this.
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
Maybe it would have wise to invest more in aiding the recovery of Puerto Rico.
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Maybe it would be even wiser not to depend on a third world source to supply a critical product. In order to compete with third world production costs you must closely match them. The median household imcome in Puerto Rico is less than half that of the US median household income.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-17.html

Mississippi State Household Income | Department of Numbers
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
Maybe it would have wise to invest more in aiding the recovery of Puerto Rico.
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Or move the production of these bags to several different locations. Having all your eggs in one basket is never a good practice.

I thought our brilliant conservative capitalists would know that. Boy Scouts 101
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Maybe it would be even wiser not to depend on a third world source to supply a critical product. In order to compete with third world production costs you must closely match them. The median household imcome in Puerto Rico is less than half that of the US median household income.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-17.html

Mississippi State Household Income | Department of Numbers
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Alot of medical industries were located in Puerto Rico for tax breaks the island received. From that they do have alot of experience in the production of drugs and other medical products that require FDA inspection and certification
 
Hawkeye10 said:
It is salt water in a bag, we can make it anywhere, we just dont bother....cant be bothered.

And the geniuses sit around scratching their balls trying to figure out how they lost the little people.
Click to expand...

It can not be done just anywhere

It would require a sterile facility, with significant FDA inspections and certifications before production could start. Any sort of contamination in the process from the bags to the water could lead to thousands falling sick.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...ls-scrambling-flu-season-gets-started-n836661

America @ 2018.......we cant even do the most basic of the basic things a society must get right right anymore.

This crash up of a soon to be former super power is going to be spectacular.

Strap yourselves in.

4.gif
Click to expand...

Sadly, we are going down in tubes. And unfortunately, we have too many sheep waiving their american flags and beating their chest while they help bring the ship down.

China is the worlds new top dog, we likely have already lost on all fronts as we refuse to address infrastructure and education in this country, while we spend billions killing brown people across the world. People fought green energy that would help create entire industries and now China and Europe are leading the way in those technologies while half the population stupidly thinks we need more oil and coal.

It's sad, WWII marked the pinacle of this countr
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Alot of medical industries were located in Puerto Rico for tax breaks the island received. From that they do have alot of experience in the production of drugs and other medical products that require FDA inspection and certification
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That is my point - differences in production costs (whether it be wages, raw material availability, regulation compliance or taxation) affect where things can be profitably made. It is simply economic common sense not to enter a field where you stand no chance of competing - the down side is that when the source of that product takes a hit (in this case, from a natural disaster) there is no plan B. By the time someone geared up (at considerable expense) to fill the temporary void then the the primary competition would likely be back in service forcing them to shut down (losing money in the process).
 
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