New Hampshire Business Review
Local hospitals are triaging medical scans and procedures in an attempt to ration a widely used contrast dye that is in short supply around the globe.
The dye, made by General Electric, is used for a variety of purposes. The liquid is typically injected into a patient’s veins and provides higher contrast than imaging procedures, like CT scans, without it.
The dye helps doctors to more easily see several issues, such as how organs are functioning, diagnosing brain bleeds or determining if a tumor has grown or shrunk.
Shortages of the dye were reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May, traced to General Electric Healthcare’s Shanghai plant, a facility that produces most of the world’s supply of contrast dye.
The plant began rationing orders in mid-April after a Covid-19 lockdown temporarily shut down its production of the dye, according to the American Hospital Association.