Statement from Secretary Xavier Becerra on IV Solution Production Resuming in North Carolina

Today, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra released the following statement in response to Baxter Inc. announcing it has restarted IV solution manufacturing at its North Cove, North Carolina facility following Hurricane Helene:

“Progress at Baxter’s North Cove facility continues to be encouraging. As hoped, Baxter has now restarted manufacturing of some IV solutions. The output from the restarted line, which will be closely monitored to help ensure the quality and safety of released product, will supplement product that is being imported from abroad in accordance with temporary grants of regulatory flexibility from FDA. While important steps remain to ensure the safety of this production, this latest development moves us another step closer to ensuring partners and patients have access to the quality supplies they need. I look forward to continued progress in the coming weeks.

The Biden-Harris Administration has been working around the clock on recovery efforts since the hurricane. Our efforts to help Baxter restart the plant safely, including facilitating Defense Production Act orders and allowing extensions on the use date of some products, are ongoing. In the meantime, whether they have experienced a supply disruption or not, we encourage manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and providers to continue to take measures to conserve these important products. We will continue to provide additional updates as they become available.”