Health officials said that the tornado-caused damage to a Pfizer plant in North Carolina could cause future drug shortages in the United States.
On Wednesday, the Pfizer facility in Rocky Mount appeared to sustain a direct hit from what National Weather Service officials say was an EF-3 tornado, halting operations at the plant. The company has said that the plant makes about 25 percent of the firm’s sterile injection medicines that are used in U.S. hospitals.
Pfizer said all employees were safely evacuated and accounted for, and no serious injuries were reported. The drugmaker is still assessing the damage.
The plant makes drugs for anesthesia, medicines that treat infections, and drugs needed for surgeries. The latter are used in surgeries or intensive care units for patients who are placed on ventilators, said Mike Ganio, who studies drug shortages at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists….