Baxter said Friday that it has been cleared from a US Department of Justice antitrust probe, launched in 2017, investigating companies that market intravenous saline solutions.
The probe came as hospitals endured a shortage of intravenous saline solutions, which are used to hydrate hospital patients. The shortage dates back to late 2013, after drugmakers told hospitals they might experience delays in deliveries of saline.
The case argued that drugmakers price fixed the price of their saline solution. The shortage and rapidly rising prices of the most ubiquitous of hospital supplies came to the forefront in the fall of 2015 when senators from both parties held hearings and called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate why shortages of saline persisted even as prices were rising.
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