Mexico: 13 child deaths linked to contaminated IV bags

[Marysmith]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/americas/mexico-children-suspected-iv-bag-death-intl-latam/index.html

From errors at the factory or in hospital?!

 

[airportwoman]

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN, or nutrition given entirely via IV) is dangerous under the best of circumstances. It has to be given through a central catheter, because it has such a high osmolarity (i.e. it's too thick to put in a smaller vein). It could be from the factory, or the hospital, or at any stage in between. It's only meant to be used if the GI tract will not be useful for a week or longer, or in some extreme cases of malnutrition.

(Several years ago, there was a story from IIRC Birmingham, Alabama where 9 people died from contaminated TPNs, and the source turned out to be a crooked pharmacist who was mixing them in a container that had been rinsed with TAP WATER! A former co-worker said on Facebook, "Must have come from Mexico" and I replied that many big-city hospitals contract out their TPNs; in other words, there is a pharmacy in town that specializes in outpatient IV work, including TPNs, and they also make the TPNs for hospitals. We worked in a large hospital in a rural area, and made our own TPNs and I never heard of us having a problem like this with any of them.)

 

[Marysmith]

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN, or nutrition given entirely via IV) is dangerous under the best of circumstances. It has to be given through a central catheter, because it has such a high osmolarity (i.e. it's too thick to put in a smaller vein). It could be from the factory, or the hospital, or at any stage in between. It's only meant to be used if the GI tract will not be useful for a week or longer, or in some extreme cases of malnutrition.

(Several years ago, there was a story from IIRC Birmingham, Alabama where 9 people died from contaminated TPNs, and the source turned out to be a crooked pharmacist who was mixing them in a container that had been rinsed with TAP WATER! A former co-worker said on Facebook, "Must have come from Mexico" and I replied that many big-city hospitals contract out their TPNs; in other words, there is a pharmacy in town that specializes in outpatient IV work, including TPNs, and they also make the TPNs for hospitals. We worked in a large hospital in a rural area, and made our own TPNs and I never heard of us having a problem like this with any of them.)

Yes, I've given it a lot as a nurse and we've never had an issue that I've heard of.
That is awful and crazy about that pharmacist! I hope he's behind bars.
I just hope there is more investigation to discover the exact way the bags were contaminated.

 

[airportwoman]

Yes, I've given it a lot as a nurse and we've never had an issue that I've heard of.
That is awful and crazy about that pharmacist! I hope he's behind bars.
I just hope there is more investigation to discover the exact way the bags were contaminated.

Ours were made in a sterile hood. (For non-healthcare workers, you've probably seen people doing things like DNA tests in a glass chamber with a slot in it; that's what we used too.) Adult TPNs were made with a mixing machine; children's and infant TPNs were made by hand. We seldom made them for children, although we would occasionally make one for a sick newborn before they sent the baby out for higher-level care.