Corning, a glass vial maker based in Corning, N.Y., has received an additional $57 million in funding from the federal government that will allow it to substantially increase its production of vials for COVID-19 vaccines. 

Online pharmacy Valisure has detected a carcinogen called benzene in 44 brands of hand sanitizer that entered the market during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The U.S. has removed 25 million isolation gowns from the strategic national stockpile over concerns that they may not provide adequate protection to healthcare workers, Bloomberg reported March 25. 

Cardinal Health began working with Chicago-based freight tracking software startup FourKites last March on a pilot to track shipments of personal protective equipment between manufacturing plants and Cardinal's distribution centers, according to The Wall Street Journal. Cardinal and FourKites, which said March 24 it raised a $100 million Series D round, told the Journal how they're working to improve visibility into the medical supply chain. 

Boston Scientific will pay $188.6 million to resolve claims that it deceptively marketed its surgical mesh products, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced March 23.

The average hospital spends nearly one-third of its overall operating expenses on supply chain management.

The best way to manage key high turn items is implementing a sophisticated inventory management system. However, if your facility needs some quick savings in the short term, look within your current supply chain to uncover hidden inefficiencies like unreliable counts for high turn items. 

Providence, a 51-hospital health system based in Renton, Wash., told the Times Standard that being part of a larger healthcare system has helped it to navigate shortages of personal protective gear during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The FDA has fully approved the first COVID-19 test, the agency said March 17. 

Ten hospitals and health systems have posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

The CDC said March 17 it will invest more than $12 billion to expand COVID-19 testing in schools and underserved communities. 

The FDA said March 16 it will allow manufacturers of COVID-19 tests to market tests for at-home or point-of-care use without studying how well they work in asymptomatic people. 

The winter storms that caused mass blackouts in Texas last month caused many chemical plants to shut down, which in turn is causing a shortage of raw materials needed for many medical supplies, such as face shields, The Wall Street Journal reported March 17. 

The FDA has issued a warning that false positives can occur with a nasal swab test made by Roche that detects the flu and COVID-19 and differentiates between the two viruses.

It has been roughly a year since the COVID-19 surge began last March. During this time, some new supply chain practices came about to solve immediate needs.

David Sims, director of supply chain and logistics at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, Miss., said prices for personal protective equipment remain inflated, and there still are supply shortages, WLOX, a local dual ABC/CBS-affiliated TV station reported March 10.

Cardinal Health said March 12 it is selling its Cordis medical device business to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for roughly $1 billion. 

Ten hospitals and health systems posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

Four COVID-19 tests that have been authorized by the FDA in the last month: 

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said the administration will conduct an audit of the Strategic National Stockpile after an investigation by The New York Times found that more than half of its annual budget has been spent on anthrax vaccines from Emergent BioSolutions rather than supplies needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Times reported March 8.