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- Federal Agencies Work to Reassure Lab Community on Blood Culture Media Bottle Shortage
Agencies within the Biden Administration have developed resources for the laboratory community to help manage disruptions in the availability of Becton Dickinson (BD) BACTEC™ blood culture media bottles.
On August 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted CLIA FAQs to about the continued shortage. The FAQs address three main stakeholder concerns regarding the blood culture shortage, including CMS awareness, the use of expired blood culture bottles, and the verification of glass blood culture bottles. Additional information can be found in the statement issued by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra here.
On July 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory about the critical shortage of blood culture media bottles. The advisory followed an announcement by the Food and Drug Administration regarding the disruption in availability of BD BACTEC blood culture media bottles on July 10.
The CAP will continue to monitor the situation and will keep members informed of the latest updates and resources.