IV shortage due to Hurricane Helene hospitalized woman for 6 weeks

A Virginia woman with a rare medical condition has been giving herself IV fluids for years to maintain her health. But a recent nationwide IV fluid shortage caused Jamie Aguilar to spend the last six weeks in the hospital.

Baxter International Inc., based in Marion, North Carolina, produces 60% of the nation’s IV fluids. Hurricane Helene devastated their facilities.

Since Helene’s stroke in September 2024, the United States Food and Drug Administration has authorized the company to extend the expiration dates of several IV products in an effort to normalize supply. But Virginia hospitals still must maintain products, according to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.

Home infusion companies, which Aguilar has relied on for nearly 42 years, are having difficulty accessing IV fluids.

“I can’t live if I don’t have this,” Aguilar said. “So I do what I have to do to live.”

Aguilar was born with a rare condition and his body cannot absorb the electrolytes he needs through food and drink. He relies on IV fluids to keep him alive.

Throughout his life he was able to administer these to himself via a daily IV drip at home, thus maintaining some semblance of normalcy.

“I have never had to be hospitalized for an electrolyte imbalance because I can handle all of this at home by myself,” Aguilar said. “I don’t have a nurse coming to my house to help me. I do everything so I can live my life. And now I’ve been in the hospital for almost six weeks. It’s been you, it’s been you.” I know it’s been hard.”

Since Helene, she has had to get her daily fluid needs from Johnston-Willis Hospital.

“I miss my people,” Aguilar said. “I miss my friends. I miss my family. I miss driving in my car with the windows down, just going to a coffee shop, sitting and drinking coffee and people watching, just having the windows open and the sun hitting my face. I haven’t felt the sun in almost six weeks.”

In addition to the IV fluid shortage, Aguilar says she has also learned that the home infusion company she has been using for the past few years no longer combines or mixes her IV fluids with the supplements she needs to survive.

The care team at the hospital is working hard to find a company that can provide IV bags to him at home.

“It’s a team effort, but it’s very difficult when I’m here. I’m dealing with other things, my health, and just trying to make it happen,” he said. “I need all the help I can get. So for anyone who sees this it can help, it would do wonders for me.”

The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association states that Baxter International plans to achieve 100 percent allocation of various IV product codes by the end of the year. They also announced that Baxter is planning phased allocation increases in late November and mid-December.

Last week, the company managed to restart one production line and announced plans to renew a second line.

These two lines represent approximately 50% of the facility’s total production capacity and approximately 85% of production of the one-liter IV solutions most commonly used by hospitals and clinics.

But there’s still no definitive timeline for when exactly we can expect production to return to pre-hurricane levels.

This story was first published by Caroline Coleburn at: Scripps News Richmond.

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