In one of the most far-reaching shortages ever to hit American hospitals, the saline IV bags that are a mainstay of surgical units and patient rooms everywhere are in short supply across the country, according to the Food and Drug Administration and hospital pharmacists. Though patients probably haven't noticed the shortfall, pharmacists are scrambling to make sure they don't. "It puts stress on the system," said Michelle Corrado, assistant director of pharmacy for Hallmark Health System, a regional provider of health care north of Boston, and president of the Massachusetts Society for Health System Pharmacists. "It pulls people's focus away from what they need to be doing."
