FDA Warns of Shortages Over Device Sterilization Plant Closures

The recent shuttering of two device sterilization facilities has led to new concerns of medical device shortages, FDA Acting Commissioner Ned Sharpless warned.

The agency noted that an Illinois Sterigenics ethylene oxide sterilization plant has shut down permanently, while another one of the company’s facilities in Georgia closed temporarily. In addition, a large Beckton Dickinson sterilization facility in the Peach State is at risk of closing.

“In light of the possibility of continued ethylene oxide sterilization facility closures, we are again alerting the public to growing concerns about the future availability of sterile medical devices and impending medical device shortages,” Sharpless said.