Supply Chain

The country's supply chain challenges could become even more severe in the wake of Hurricane Ida, which has damaged several Louisiana hospitals and forced some to evacuate patients, The New York Times reported Aug. 31. 

Baxter International is in advanced talks to buy Hillrom for roughly $10 billion, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. 

Cardinal Health has recalled about 267 million prefilled syringes after finding the plunger may pull back and reintroduce air into the syringe, which could cause serious adverse outcomes. 

Brian Sperber, 44, a Florida distributor of personal protective equipment, has been charged with stealing $12 million that was intended to purchase PPE for hospitals and other healthcare facilities, the U.S. Justice Department said Aug. 26. 

Sixty-eight hospitals in Florida have less than two days of oxygen supplies on hand, as more than 17,000 patients in the state are hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a survey cited by WUSF Public Media, Tampa Bay's NPR station. 

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

Demand for at-home COVID-19 tests has risen significantly in recent weeks as virus cases surge and people return to school and work, The Wall Street Journal reported Aug 26. 

The FDA has alerted healthcare facilities to stop using certain N95 masks made by the company Shanghai Dasheng Health Products Manufacturing due to "serious concerns" with the quality of the masks, the agency said Aug. 25. 

A recall of millions of ventilation devices by Philips in June has led to a shortage of such devices, and as the COVID-19 delta variant surges, physicians are concerned about the low supply, The New York Times reported. 

The U.S. has been facing a worsening national blood shortage for months as the pandemic has delayed blood drives and fewer people are donating. Hospitals have had to delay surgeries, and providers have expressed fears of patients receiving suboptimal care.