Category: Supply Chain

Medline has recalled two models of its Bed Assist Bars portable bed rails after receiving reports of two patient deaths, the company said May 30.

For decades, health system supply chain executives have been focused on reducing costs, but now, they’re looking beyond price tags, according to Tom Harvieux, vice president and chief supply officer of St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare.

The FDA announced May 30 that OptumHealth Care Solutions is recalling 208 infusion pump systems.

As more health systems dive into hospital-at-home models, supply chain leaders told Becker’s their industry is facing a tidal wave of change — and it’s time to start surfing. 

Medline and Jiangsu Shenli Medical Production Co. have initiated recalls of plastic syringes amid reports of them breaking and leaking, the FDA confirmed in late May.

Customers of an Abbott heart pump have reported 81 incidents, 70 injuries and two deaths related to blood leakage or air entering the device, according to the FDA. 

Hologic, a Massachusetts-based medical technology company, recently warned customers about potential risks linked to an implantable device used to mark soft tissue for procedures. 

Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital stopped using two harmful anesthesia gasses last year and are now working to reduce the use of two others by 75%, according to a May 21 news release. 

Nearly six months after the FDA told healthcare workers to avoid plastic syringes made in China, the agency has placed import alerts on three China-based medical supply manufacturers.