A worldwide shortage of IV fluids has seen doctors competing with the 'wellness industry'. The businesses promise customers super-charged immunity and even cures for hangovers with the expensive treatments. But doctors believe the bags should be limited to medical needs in hospitals and GP clinics.
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00:00The Royal Australian College of GPs wants IV fluids reserved strictly for medical purposes.
00:08IV fluids are an essential medicine used across the healthcare system to treat anything from
00:14dehydration to sepsis to post-operative care in hospitals.
00:18GPs, in particular, use IV fluids for things like dehydration and also to provide iron
00:24infusions.
00:25But they say they're having to compete for access to IV fluids against wellness companies.
00:29So wellness companies use IV fluids and then they add vitamin infusions.
00:34And these treatments promise a raft of benefits from enhanced energy to boosted immunity to
00:39even hangover cures, although it's worth noting that health authorities have said that those
00:44claims are unproven and that they're not backed by scientific evidence.
00:48At the same time, Australia is in the grip of an IV fluid shortage.
00:52The federal government secured 22 million bags of IV fluids back in August, but doctors
00:58say they're still having to ration care.
01:00And they say, given that, IV fluids should be reserved strictly for medical purposes.
01:05Take a listen.
01:06IV fluids are really important for essential healthcare, but they are now being used as
01:12a business opportunity, which means they're being used by some wellness companies for
01:18hangover cures, for delivering vitamins, which really makes very expensive urine, when it
01:24really should be used for medical purposes only at this point.
01:28So the ABC contacted nine wellness companies who provide these IV vitamin infusions, but
01:33only one would speak publicly.
01:36That company said that assigning blame for the shortage to wellness companies wasn't
01:40helpful in addressing the real issue, which they said was a lack of local manufacturing
01:44capacity.
01:45And they also said that overall consumption of IV fluids is only a tiny fraction in terms
01:50of what the wellness company use, compared to what's used in hospitals and in general
01:54practice.
01:55The Therapeutic Goods Administration said it continues to monitor the shortage and supply
02:00of IV fluids as a priority, but noted that it couldn't stop clinics from using these
02:05products.