Supply of fluids for intravenous (IV) therapy is to stabilize by the end of next month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Friday.
Special permission has been granted to import IV bags to ease a shortage caused by a suspension of production at the nation’s largest producer of IV fluids.
At least 2.6 million bottles of existing stock would be shipped to Taiwan in batches, with the first batch of 100,000 to arrive next week, FDA Deputy Director-General Wang Te-yuan (王德原) said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The supply would ensure no risk of a supply shortage by the end of next month, he added.
Concerns of an IV fluid shortage came after an announcement last month that YF Chemical Corp (永豐化學), which provides 70 percent of the nation’s saline IV bags, was ordered to cease production after “serious contraventions” of good manufacturing practice.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare had previously estimated that shortages could continue until October.
The FDA on May 13 launched an open call for companies to import or manufacture affected medical products, especially large IV bags and saline for irrigation, Wang said.
Other domestic firms agreed to increase production, while seven companies were granted special permission to import, he said.
The first batch of IV fluid already on a cargo ship bound for Taiwan could be used right away, as it was already inspected before shipment, he said.
Wang said it is difficult to predict when the rest would be shipped, but vowed that the FDA would announce each time supplies are to arrive.
The FDA provides a platform where medical practitioners may report when they are unable to purchase medical supplies so the agency can negotiate with suppliers, Wang said.
As of Thursday, the agency had already helped in 496 cases, he added.
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