Patient Rose Bush R receives treatment from Doctor Leon Yeh in the Emergency Room at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria Illinois November 26 2013 REUTERS Jim Young Hospitals are facing a shortage on medications that are used every day The situation is getting worse the American Hospital Association said In particular hospitals are facing shortages of commonly used IV fluids including sodium chloride dextrose and nutritional solutions The US has a drug shortage problem In the wake of Hurricane Maria a number of facilities that make healthcare products including intravenous fluids that are commonly used in hospitals have been knocked out of service Thats led to shortages at hospitals around the US that are getting worse according to the American Hospital Association which represents thousands of hospitals and health systems We are concerned that the shortages of widely-used and critical products are quickly becoming a crisis and looming threat to the publics health Thomas Nickels executive vice president of government relations and public policy at the AHA wrote to the FDA The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists ASHP an organization that monitors drug shortages lists 139 compounds that are currently facing shortages In particular hospitals are feeling the pain over a few commonly used IV fluids including 50 and 100 milliliter injection bags of sodium chloride also known as saline at 9 dextrose 5 and nutritional solutions All of these fluids are key in keeping patients hydrated and energized To get around the shortage the AHA said hospitals are using pill versions when possible switching to versions that can be injected with just a syringe and prioritizing some patients over others How drug shortages happen The ASHP cites a number of reasons for the shortages Most are related to manufacturing problems In the cases of saline and dextrose Baxters facilities in Puerto Rico were hit by the hurricanes adding to existing drug shortages In other cases some of the companies which make large portions of the drug simply stop making it or a drug is only being produced by a single manufacturer And therein lies the problem There simply are not enough companies making the drug to keep up with demand Its all part of a consolidation of the manufacturers who produce generic drugs US generic companies have had a harder time turning a profit on generic drugs while competing with companies outside the US that are able to make the same drugs at a cheaper cost Thats caused manufacturers to home in on certain generic drugs and discontinue others that dont make as much money And if a generic manufacturer has a shortage theres no easy fix you cant just pass off the job to another company while the first fixes its problems since getting approval to take on a new drug can take years When it comes to this particular shortage the AHA said in its letter that it would like the FDA to push manufacturers that make these drugs to invest in creating more supplies in the future as well as find suppliers within the US that arent as susceptible to natural disasters