Prescription Shortages?

[Jimmy Higgins]

So, I've on multiple occasions in the past few months, received emails for pickups at the pharmacy for partial fulfillments of medications. Granted, I haven't been getting my Mom's med for very long, just a 3 years come this March, but in those three years, this had never happened before. Is the pharmacy I'm going to just dropping the ball or are there meds that aren't in heavy supply right now?

 

[Toni]

I have been reading about prescription medication shortages for a while but not with much concern as it isn't an issue for me or my husband (knocks wood) so far. Most of the headlines have been about the shortages of Adderall.

But reading your post I decided to look and found these, which may or may not be helpful to you:

Drug Shortages List

www.ashp.org

This is much shorter and may be helpful. But according to this list, I should have knocked wood a little harder. A medication I take for elevated blood pressure is on the list. I will need a refill in a few weeks....

22 Medication Shortages: List of Drugs - Parade: Entertainment, Recipes, Health, Life, Holidays

These medications are essential for many.

parade.com

The only suggestion I have is to ask the pharmacy. I know I know I know: one more damn thing. It's almost impossible to actually speak with a pharmacist in my town unless you go in person. Last time I tried, the poor guy was extremely harried and not a native speaker of English so zero help. Fortunately not a bit deal for me at that time.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Thanks for that. I saw those links when I was doing a quick search, but just figured they were pulp click bait. A few of her drugs are on that list. Oddly enough, the current one that is being weened isn't.

The pharmacy hasn't not been able to give at least a short supply, so we haven't been at zero yet, but it is a bit annoying. More first-world problems.

 

[ZiprHead]

My wife had a couple split last year and I had one it took a couple days for the pharmacy to get in. I chalked it up to the supply chain difficulties.

 

[southernhybrid]

About two years ago, the drug that I take to prevent seizures was on the CDC short supply list and I had to drive about 30 miles to find some. My local pharmacy wan't much help, so I had to figure out where to find that drug myself. Since they always fill my drug for 90s days and since I always refill it as soon as I can, I always have lots of extra doses now.

The rest of my drugs are to make my quality of life more comfortable, like pain relievers and hormone replacement drugs. None of those have ever been in short supply, and none of my husband's blood pressure meds or statins have been in short supply. I have read that more drugs are in short supply in recent years.I've also read that some of it is probably because a lot of generic drugs don't make much profit for the drug companies. Most of them aren't even made in the US, which could be a problem in the future.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

It's been a long-standing problem. Many of the old standbys are sold at a low profit margin, the manufacturers do not have a financial incentive to provide some slack in their production capacity (if they did they would lose sales to the ones that don't and thus can charge less.) The result is minor glitches can translate into trouble for many patients. My mother was a victim of this back in the 90s, it's not a new problem.

There are also the FDA-inflicted problems with some controlled substances where they deliberately limit the supply to reduce diversion--never mind that the result is those who need it go without instead. And the drug companies get to choose to use their capacity for the expensive name brand versions rather than the cheap generic versions.

 

[Tharmas]

I haven't experienced any shortages so far, but I'm in the process of switching my scripts over to Mark Cuban's Cost plus drugstore, so we'll see how that works out.

 

[steve_bank]

So far I had to wait twice for my Tomolo eye drops. Other than that no problems. My meds are tier 1 common heart meds.

In the news there is a growing shortage of pharmacists and pharmacy techs. Pharmacies are reducing hours.

Pharmacists are being required to make up the digence by working the counter and drive up windows. Add to that vaccinations.

Some pharmacies will not handle narcotics.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So far I had to wait twice for my Tomolo eye drops. Other than that no problems. My meds are tier 1 common heart meds.

In the news there is a growing shortage of pharmacists and pharmacy techs. Pharmacies are reducing hours.

Oh yes, that is definitely happening. Hours are more stable now, but they are reduced.

 

[southernhybrid]

So far I had to wait twice for my Tomolo eye drops. Other than that no problems. My meds are tier 1 common heart meds.

In the news there is a growing shortage of pharmacists and pharmacy techs. Pharmacies are reducing hours.

Pharmacists are being required to make up the digence by working the counter and drive up windows. Add to that vaccinations.

Some pharmacies will not handle narcotics.

That's awful, but I do wonder if it's a regional problem. Just a few years ago, a pharmacist told me there were two many pharmacists. We've not had your problem where I live and luckily for people like me, all of the local pharmacies are fine with filling narcotic prescriptions. Pain is such a huge problem for older adults and I live in an area where there are lots of older adults. Without my pain meds, my life would be a living hell. Sorry that your area is experiencing these problems. We have a huge number of pharmacies, including quite a few mom and pop older ones in my small city. That is why I think the problem may be regional. I do agree that pharmacists are over worked these days. That started around the beginning of the pandemic. Actually, most health care workers are stressed out and over worked, but that's for a different discussion.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So far I had to wait twice for my Tomolo eye drops. Other than that no problems. My meds are tier 1 common heart meds.

In the news there is a growing shortage of pharmacists and pharmacy techs. Pharmacies are reducing hours.

Pharmacists are being required to make up the digence by working the counter and drive up windows. Add to that vaccinations.

Some pharmacies will not handle narcotics.

That's awful, but I do wonder if it's a regional problem. Just a few years ago, a pharmacist told me there were two many pharmacists. We've not had your problem where I live and luckily for people like me, all of the local pharmacies are fine with filling narcotic prescriptions. Pain is such a huge problem for older adults and I live in an area where there are lots of older adults. Without my pain meds, my life would be a living hell. Sorry that your area is experiencing these problems. We have a huge number of pharmacies, including quite a few mom and pop older ones in my small city. That is why I think the problem may be regional. I do agree that pharmacists are over worked these days. That started around the beginning of the pandemic. Actually, most health care workers are stressed out and over worked, but that's for a different discussion.

The pharmacies have been under stress since the pandemic. Hours, lines, just about all aspects are hobbled and I do my best not to add to their woes because of frustration when it props up.

There was one guy in line for a shot, he had scheduled an appointment. But they were out. He asked what he should do, and they said the best was schedule another appointment, but why should he schedule another appointment if he doesn't know if they'll have the shots? Both sides knew how dumb it was and both sides were powerless to deal with it.

Things improved several months ago, but they are still a bit understaffed.