WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Damage from Hurricane Helene, impacting a health care manufacturer’s ability to get IV solutions and other product distributed.
KSN’s Derek Lytle learned the shortage of supplies is causing worry for some local Dialysis patients.
Joshua Rathbun, a Wichita restaurant owner, began Dialysis four months ago. He says he relies on the products he gets from Baxter to survive.
Rathbun says he worries he will have to make major changes if the shortage continues.
Baxter, a healthcare manufacturer, saw its facility in North Carolina take on unprecedented damage from Hurricane Helene. The factory shut down, affecting the supply of IV and Peritoneal Dialysis solutions.
Rathbun, orders his dialysis treatment, from the company, he said, Baxter, now has limitations in place.
“They are currently lowering that limit,” said Rathbun.
Rathbun relies on his at-home Dialysis treatment, which requires Baxter’s products. It’s a nine-hour nightly treatment that allows him to maintain as normal a life as possible.
“Put the responsibility in your own hands, to take control of your own life; you can do it while you sleep, so you have a normal work schedule,” said Rathbun.
He says if the shortage gets worse, he will be left with treatment options that will take him away from his restaurant, forcing him to change treatments.
“If I didn’t have my orders coming in, if I didn’t have the monthly orders I typically receive, I would either have to go to another center and do it in the center, I probably would have to switch to hemodialysis,” said Rathbun.
He hopes the shortage is not long-lasting, as it would put more stress on an already tough situation.
“My family has also suffered. My wife and kids have put up with a lot, probably because it’s tough on me, it’s tough on the family,” said Rathbun.
A Baxter spokesperson said in a statement that they are working with partners to identify alternate sources of their Dialysis solutions.
For Joshua, who is on the transplant waitlist, he hopes for a new kidney soon.
