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Registered nurse Graetel Anderson prepares Samantha Schwartz's intravenous infusion at Badger State Hydrate. The Downtown Madison clinic is one of several in the area offering a range of IV vitamin and nutrient therapies, saying they can improve health.
With concoctions like “Pregame Punch,” “Immunity Blast” and “Hung Over Badger,” Badger State Hydrate is among several Madison-area clinics joining a national trend of offering infusions of fluids and nutrients directly into the bloodstream, saying they can boost hydration and health.
Experts say the IV therapies — which range from about $75 to $350 and aren’t covered by insurance — may help people who are deficient in vitamins or minerals, or who have digestive problems that impede absorption. But for most people, they say eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water can provide similar benefits, and excess doses of certain vitamins can be harmful.
“In the general population, for commercial use, I would question the need for (IV therapies),” said Adam Kuchnia, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at UW-Madison. “If you’re getting mega-doses, potentially on a regular basis, there could be harmful toxicity effects.”
Registered nurse Graetel Anderson prepares an intravenous solution bag for a client at Badger State Hydrate in Madison.
Dr. Louis Scrattish, a UW Health emergency medicine provider, opened Badger State Hydrate in Downtown Madison in November with nurse Shannon Coltrane. Scrattish acknowledged “the jury is still out a bit” on IV vitamin therapy. But he said people with conditions such as migraines, digestive problems and some blood flow disorders can benefit from the infusions, as can those seeking general wellness.
He said he makes sure his IV mixtures, many of which include medications, are safe.
“Many of the clients we have really feel they get benefits from these infusions,” Scrattish said. “We trust their instinct and their health care provider’s instinct.”
Samantha Schwartz, 30, an aesthetician from Madison who does eyelash extensions, said she initially went to Badger State Hydrate for relief from a wedding party hangover. She has continued getting various infusions twice a month, saying they give her more energy and make her skin look better.
One of her recent infusions — “Moon Mend,” designed to ease symptoms of menstruation — includes calcium, magnesium, folate, B complex vitamins and the anti-inflammatory ketorolac, or Toradol. Another, “Break the Ache,” for headaches or chronic pain, is similar but instead of calcium and folate contains the nausea medicine ondansetron, or Zofran, and the antihistamine diphenhydramine, or Benadryl.
Samantha Schwartz, who gets IV infusions twice a month at Badger State Hydrate, said they "give you a boost."
“It really does give you a boost,” Schwartz said.
Scrattish, who works at ERs in Madison, Beaver Dam, Medford and Richland Center, said many patients who go to ERs end up primarily getting IV fluids and don’t need to be in such a high-tech, high-cost setting. Meanwhile, infusion centers run by providers such as UW Health and SSM Health focus mostly on chemotherapy and blood products, he said.
“We’re trying to create a whole new space in the medical system for people who need sort of advanced therapy but don’t need the diagnostic capabilities of an ER and are not critically ill,” said Scrattish, who has also worked for UW Health's Med Flight emergency helicopter service. “People who know what’s going on with them can find the treatment they want in a really efficient, comfortable and often more cost-effective manner.”
Badger State Hydrate opened a second location in the Wisconsin Dells on June 1. In July, it plans to start offering infusions of ketamine, an approved hallucinogenic drug increasingly given to people with serious mental health problems. The clinic also plans to tailor nutrient therapies to pregnant women and people who have undergone weight-loss surgery, who often have trouble absorbing nutrients, Scrattish said.
Other clinics are providing similar services. Revival Infusion Madison, which opened in Fitchburg in February, focuses on ketamine but also offers IV hydration and nutrition combinations with names such as “Recharge,” “Reboot and “Revive.”
Core Integrated Health in Verona has been providing IV therapies since 2019, and Forum Health in Fitchburg started carrying them in November. Viva Infusions, which opened in Mount Horeb in May, offers ketamine and a variety of wellness infusions, said Amanda Eagan, a certified registered nurse anesthetist who runs the clinic.
Samantha Schwartz first went to Badger State Hydrate for relief from a hangover but said she now gets regular infusions to boost her hydration and energy level.
Some naturopathic doctors, such as Dr. Aaron Henkel of the Family Clinic of Natural Medicine in Madison, also provide IV therapies.
IV vitamin therapy was pioneered in the 1960s by Dr. John Myers of Baltimore. His “Myers Cocktail,” a mix of calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and B vitamins designed to treat asthma attacks and other ailments, remains a popular formula at IV therapy clinics.
A clinical study of the Myers Cocktail on fibromyalgia patients, published in 2009, found that those who got the formula reported less pain and more ability to do daily activities. So did those who got a fake treatment of water and electrolytes. The finding is an example of what is known as the placebo effect — the idea that beneficial effects come a patient’s belief in a treatment, not the treatment itself.
Badger State Hydrate is one of several IV therapy clinics that have opened recently in the Madison area. Shown are registered nurse Graetel Anderson, left; Shannon Coltrane, co-owner of Badger State Hydrate; and customer Samantha Schwartz.
Scrattish said the placebo effect could play a role in the benefits people perceive from IV therapies, as can be the case for other medical treatments. Little research is done on IV vitamin therapies that could prove their value because they aren’t as profitable as patentable drugs, he said.
“I think that most likely, broadly in medicine, there is a reasonable placebo effect that goes on with most of the things we infuse,” he said.
Badger State Hydrate’s website says IV therapies may improve immune health, boost cognitive function, ease anxiety and reduce fatigue, among other benefits.
Dr. Robert Shmerling, senior faculty editor with Harvard Health Publishing, called such claims an “evidence-free zone” and said IV therapies are a “buyer beware situation.”
“What you’re left with is a lot of cost and not much benefit,” Shmerling said. “There’s no evidence that adding hydration to a well-hydrated person gives you any benefits.”
Most of the risks of IV therapies are small, such as bruising and bleeding at the injection site and the potential for infection, Shmerling said. But patients seeking infusions for symptoms such as fatigue could have serious medical conditions that might be overlooked without a proper medical evaluation, he said.
Kuchnia, the UW-Madison nutritional scientist, said high doses of fat-soluble vitamins — A, D, E and K — can damage the liver and the kidneys. The body excretes excess levels of water soluble vitamins — C and B complex — but too much vitamin C can cause gastrointestinal problems, he said.
Shannon Coltrane, left, opened Badger State Hydrate in November with Dr. Louis Scrattish, a UW Health emergency medicine provider. Coltrane talks to Samantha Schwartz, a regular customer.
Some of the most expensive IV infusions include NAD+, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, an enzyme involved in metabolism. Kuchnia said NAD is key to cellular energy production, but “the body is going to get NAD if you’re consuming food.”
The Federal Trade Commission in 2018 charged a Texas-based IV therapy company with making false claims about treating serious diseases including cancer, multiple sclerosis and congestive heart failure. This year, it warned an Arizona company to stop saying IV therapy can treat or prevent COVID-19.
Scrattish said he tries to be upfront about the uncertainties of IV therapies and realistic about his claims. His website links to a 2019 article by the University of Alabama-Birmingham that is largely critical of IV therapies, saying “no research has shown that it provides significant benefits.”
“We want to show both sides of things,” he said.
When he and Coltrane opened Badger State Hydrate on Doty Street, not far from the UW-Madison campus, he initially thought college students with hangovers would be a large portion of the business. But they have accounted for less than 10%, with people gearing up for or recovering from athletic events making up about 20%.
“We’ve been surprised to find the vast majority of our patients are people who are looking for wellness,” he said.
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David Wahlberg is the health and medicine reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal.
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Registered nurse Graetel Anderson prepares Samantha Schwartz's intravenous infusion at Badger State Hydrate. The Downtown Madison clinic is one of several in the area offering a range of IV vitamin and nutrient therapies, saying they can improve health.
Registered nurse Graetel Anderson prepares an intravenous solution bag for a client at Badger State Hydrate in Madison.
Samantha Schwartz, who gets IV infusions twice a month at Badger State Hydrate, said they "give you a boost."
Samantha Schwartz first went to Badger State Hydrate for relief from a hangover but said she now gets regular infusions to boost her hydration and energy level.
Badger State Hydrate is one of several IV therapy clinics that have opened recently in the Madison area. Shown are registered nurse Graetel Anderson, left; Shannon Coltrane, co-owner of Badger State Hydrate; and customer Samantha Schwartz.
Shannon Coltrane, left, opened Badger State Hydrate in November with Dr. Louis Scrattish, a UW Health emergency medicine provider. Coltrane talks to Samantha Schwartz, a regular customer.
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