Supply Chain

The FDA has placed certain brands of hand sanitizer on an import alert as more products have been found to contain methanol, a chemical that can be toxic when absorbed into the skin or ingested. 

Demand for see-through masks has skyrocketed in recent months, particularly among deaf and hard-of-hearing populations, NPR reported. 

The COVID-19 pandemic amplified numerous challenges within the U.S. supply chain, from the scarcity of procurement sources to vetting an influx of new entrants to the market. Supply chain leaders have had to be extremely flexible, experiment with new procurement…

Communicating the reasons your organization is pursuing standardization to the entire staff is crucial for success.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has spent $134 million to supply nursing homes across the country with 14-day supplies of personal protective equipment, but nursing homes say the shipments have included faulty and unusable equipment, The New York Times reported. 

Labs across the country are facing shortages of pipette tips, which are needed to quickly and precisely move liquid between vials during the COVID-19 testing process, The New York Times reported. 

The FDA is allowing suppliers of viral transport media  —  materials needed to transport samples of COVID-19 diagnostic tests — to be exempt from certain regulatory requirements in an effort to increase the availability of the materials. 

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

Quest Diagnostics signed a deal with Hackensack (N.J.) Meridian Health to take over lab operations at 11 of the health system's hospitals and one clinic, according to a memo obtained by Politico. 

Peter Gaynor, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told Congress this week that the U.S. still has "a ways to go" to have enough personal protective equipment for healthcare workers fighting COVID-19, The Hill reported.