Posted by Dr Dan Carter
The FDA needs to take immediate and emergency action in the case of Wallcur Practi IV Solution Bags that are supposed to be used only for IV start practice. I (Dr Carter) received an email from a physician in Florida who has personal experience with the Practi Bags in question. I have anonymized his email…
[Quote] Dr Carter,I am an Internal Medicine Physician in [City], Florida and I read your blog in reference to the Wallcur IV solutions being administered to patients.
The problem with this particular “practice” solution is that it has found its way in to the normal supply chains for hospitals and clinics and reading the label three times over as you suggest, is not going to change the fact that all it says is Normal Saline, however when administered to a patient it causes severe illness, shock and inflammation and in some cases death. As a provider who ordered this fluid I can ensure you that this is a matter of erroneous and false labeling for an extremely dangerous product floating around in the IV supply chain. Nowhere on this bag does it say “Do not use in humans or animals,” “For practice use only,” or any such thing, in short, it needs to be removed quickly from the shelves of clinics and hospitals and then there needs to be some serious new regulations in regards to the labeling of “practice” IV solutions.
[Name] MD[City], FL
Thank you very much doctor, for your personal experience and for replying to the blog post. I went to Wallcur’s website in order to see if they had a photo of the Practi Bag in question – they did and a link to the photo is located below:
The only possible clue I can see in the photo that this is not a normal IV bag for human/animal use is the word “Practi” preceding the expiration date. Nowhere on the front of the back does it state “Do not use in humans or animals,” “For practice use only.” This is a very dangerous issue and must be addressed quickly.
When you go to Wallcur’s order page for Practi-50 mL I.V. Solution Bag (for simulation) it does state “Not for human or animal injection. For simulation practice only.” The major problem is – the nurse or physician getting this bag from stock only sees “Practi 0.9% Sodium Chloride.” Many health care professionals could take the “Practi” as being the brand name. The warning to not infuse in humans/animals MUST be on the bag.
The physician’s email did not state that either Wallcur or the FDA had contacted health care facilities that may have ordered the bags, so I will assume at this point that they have not. If I later find that they have, I will immediately correct this information.
