If the Supply chain is fractured beyond immediate repair because of y2k infrastructure breakdown or war how will we make critical life saving medications in the supply necesary to keep people from loosing their lives. My wifes brother has to take insulin every day, I have to take heart meds. If these supplies stop were in trouble. Has any community set up a stockpile of life critical meds? where is the govt on this matter, they are awol. This is no joke. lives are at serious risk. Thank you Gary North for raising the y2k med issue. It's serious business. Congress and senate expect to lose your jobs if y2k causes serious loss of life because of your negligence. We need to be setting up ways to produce these meds for a protracted emergency in every state right now as a national health care priority.

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike @ conservation .com), August 12, 1999

Answers

Even though people think I'm a pollyana, I agree that you *might* have a problem. The only word that comes to mind is 'stockpile', which is not too difficult if you have a sympathetic doctor (and if you don't get one!)

Fortunately insulin manufature is not a super secret process (though I realize only a few companies do it today, because of low profit margins?) Your heart medicine is probably another story; is it possible to slowly change them?

Again, you need a sympathetic doctor.

-straw

-- straw (strawberry9@worldnet.att.net), August 12, 1999.

I wish I had something comforting to say but I don't.

In the Senate Report they do address this issue thusly.

80% of the raw goods for all pharmaceutical supplies are imported and will not be available.

Insulin will not be available.

No ifs and or buts. NO insulin.

I am truly sorry. Got a similar problem in my own family involving thyroid medications. It is heartbreaking.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), August 12, 1999.

This old housemouse depends on thyroid medication, and the housemouse hubbie is "dependant" on blood pressure medication. Our doctor keeps putting us off whenever we ask, saying "in the fall"!

Changes in our health insurance are making us change from the local pharmacy to one they specify many more miles away. When housemouse hubby went to switch the prescriptions over, the pharmacist at the new drugstore was checking stuff out on the computer, and was about to refuse to fill the prescription because the computer said he had had it refilled recently. He told her that he hadn't, she checked some more, and finally filled it.

So, what gives here? If they can check to see how often we have filled a prescription, they can prevent us from "stockpiling"... I was not aware that all the pharmacy computers were linked in one mega-machine somewhere.

Frightened little old housemouse... (who now is going to have to figure out a way to keep her non-functional thyroid going without medication, and figure out how to wean housemouse hubbie off blood-pressure medication so we don't have a HBP crisis...)

...........................................

-- housemouse (jgj@nevermind.net), August 12, 1999.

This isn't much help now, but about a year ago, my husband and I started going to the pharmacy about four days early to ask for prescriptions. By now, we have accumulated over a month's extra supply. You can still do some of this even now. We found that they would not fill a prescription when presented a week early. Lurker

-- lurker (lurker@goinit alone.com), August 12, 1999.

Foreign Pharmacies

-- Many (drugs@for.you), August 12, 1999.

After my experience with the partial prescription refill, I'm VERY nervous about this situation. It's not just Y2K, it's the JIT system itself. The ONLY reason pharmacies are so wed to JIT is to save money; it's nothing to do with the freshness of meds or teh wellbeing of the customer. In a conversation with a pharmacist I discovered that most--the vast majority of--meds last 2-4 years. If you look at the storage shelves at your local pharmacy, you'll see there's plenty of space there.

I can see two reasons insurance companies restrict patients to a month's supply: one, if the patient dies and leaves a month's worth of meds, then they've lost money; 2) if the patient doesn't do well on a medication or the condition requires something stronger, then that unused medicine is also wasted. However, there should be some provision for those of us on regular medication, day in, day out, so we're able to get more than a month's worth at a time. In the alternative, my doctor should be willing to give me a prescription I can pay for myself (providing of course it's not some popular recreational drug or something).

Given the insecurity such a system engenders, I think it's time insurance companies went to a 90-day supply for those who are on a set drug regimen and the same (temporarily) for others to see them over the crucial Y2K period. Who knows how long that will be? Well, nobody does, do they? My medication is manufactured in France; the world's major insulin manufacturer is in Scandinavia (Denmark as I recall); it does not inspire confidence. The Senate hearing showed that 80% of pharmacy ingredients come from overseas and I also read that 70% of actual medications are manufactured overseas too.

All I can do is reiterate what someone said above--if your doctor won't help you out, find another doctor. Hell, try your vet too, if you know him/her well! My cat has an overactive thyroid and takes a human med. . .

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 12, 1999.

my son suffers from siezures and takes medication to control them. Since he takes maintanence medications my HMO lets us have a three month supply of meds to reduce our trips to the pharmacy. For the past year we have been returning the the pharmacy every two months and as a result have been able to stock about five months of meds.

As of yet we have not had any troubles. In december I will make sure to get another renewal in order to through the rollover. If the system is broken for longer then a year then many people will have problems.

-- Guns, Grub & Gold (home@the city.com), August 12, 1999.

housemouse: Has your husband ever tried taking garlic capsules for high blood pressure? Garlic has worked well for several people I know. It is a regulator, and will lower blood pressure if it's high and raise it if it's low. Worth a try.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), August 12, 1999.

In two firms in the past couple of years I have had two different health plans. BOTH specified that I can only have the prescriptions upon which I depend for health/life when needed. The first plan would not even allow me to renew it a couple of days early, which was a real irritant and inconvenience, particularly since they wouldn't come due on the same dates. The new plan allows me to order ahead for 3 months, but only on a set date. This does not permit stockpiling either. My doctor does not even wish to discuss Y2K. I will need renewals in January! So I have learned via this and other forums that I can do one of two things, or a little of both. (1) go to the border of Mexico and walk across and get a 3-month supply, then go back the same day and get 3 months more, until I have what I think is what I might need, depending upon the scenario one envisions at Y2K. (2) send by mail to Europe for these meds. See above post on this. The latter is cheapest, I think, since I cannot afford to fly to Arizona or any state bordering Mexico.

As to the government doing anything for us, you've got to be kidding! Look how well they are teaching us how to prepare!!!

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), August 12, 1999.

A couple of obs from a pharmacy owner.

housemouse, if would let me know the name and address of your "local" pharmacy and your insurance carrier I may be able to help. Was recently elected prez of a 6000 member independent pharmacy org specifically dedicated to this problem.

JIT inventorying is an economic must these days. The new drugs of the last few years are hideously expensive. The average Joe Pharmacist simply can't afford to throw an extra $30K on the shelf (very easy to do if you aren't carefull) and the pharmacy manager at a chain store would be out of a job if he didn't *manage*. Declining margins due to HMO dictates exacerbate this problem.

I can't ethically recommend but can neither blame people for using a Mexico or overseas source but will add this caution. Expiration dates on prescription meds are very dependent on storage temps. The distribution system here is well monitored in this regard. If someone out there can speak for Tijuana, Nogales, Juarez or Brownsville let me know.

First or second generation meds for BP, diabetes & hypothyroidism are all available generically and are dirt cheap.

Lastly, your most important asset in med prep is your relationship with your doctor. If you're on an HMO, your physician or physician's group (IPA) is likely capitated for med costs. Simply, this means that your med expenses are subtracted from a predetermined fund that pays the doctor's salary. Overuse (stockpiling) of meds directly affects the MDs income. Most won't readily talk about this hijacking of their profession. Your sincerity, your rationality and your doctor's confidence in YOU are key. Mentioning that you would pay out of pocket for an extra supply can't hurt either.

Lastly (honest), remember that the docs and pharms are people with y2k problems too. Most of them don't know it but that just proves they're *normal*.

-- Carlos (riffraff1@cybertime.net), August 12, 1999.

Mike, Here is what you do. Switch all of your wifes and brother to Lilly Branded insulin. Lilly is a domestic manufacturer of insulin in the central part of the US. They produce large quantities by recombinant Dna processes which means that the cell culture only needs to be fed.

As for your heart meds, Ask your doctor about beta blockers. If they will work for you, then switch to that(or its generic version). My company is doing the y2k buildup right now and Inderal/Inderide is one of them. All product lines are being built up ahead of y2k just in case if the other companies are not prepared. Other meds: Advil, Anacin, Robatussin, Premarin, Effexor, Lodine, the Centrum line, the O C's, ect...

Good luck

-- Ned P Zimmer (ned@nednet.com), August 12, 1999.

I have MS and asthma and I take 21 medications a day. I leveled with my doctor last winter and she gave me prescriptions for three months and one refill. I knew my insuranace would not cover them. I experimented with my medications, and did triage on them. I was able to cut several back to stockpile.

I could not afford to fill them all, but I was able to afford the few that were absolutely crucial. I leveled woth my doctor about my Y2K concerns last summer so my request for extra prescriptions was not a surprise. I leveled with the pharmacy that I went to; I told them the prescriptions were specifically because of my Y2K concerns.

My heart goes out to all of you who have to consider life and death issues in terms of medications. Find a doctor you can level with to get extra prescriptions beyond what you take and what the insurance will cover. Find a pharmacy you don't usually go to and level with them about filling the prescriptions being for Y2K and pay with cash.

DO NOT WAIT TO DO THIS!!! Right now it is quiet and the medications are available in the supply line. I filled and paid for mine last year and I rotate them with new medications to keep expiration dates as far out as possible.

IT IS GETTING LATE IN THE GAME!!! As soon as people start becoming panicked the supply lines will be threatened and doctors and pharmacies may be less cooperative. GET GOING NOW!!! Work with your meds to cut back dosage as much as possible. Order the meds as soon as possible and allowable by insurance. Get what extra meds you can afford that are life sustaining. Do it now......now.....now.....before it is too late.

Blessings be with you in this very emotional struggle with very important life sustaining issues.

-- Leslie (***@***.net), August 12, 1999.

Reread Leslie's above post then reread it again.

-- Carlos (riffraff1@cybertime.net), August 12, 1999.

The link to the article has expired, but here's a relevant snip from an article that appeared on the front page of the Washington Post on June 28th about Washington D.C.'s Y2K contingency plans:

An extra 30 to 60 days' worth of pharmaceuticals is being ordered, and up to 90 days' worth of other basic supplies  from bottled water to bandages  is being purchased.

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), August 12, 1999.

JIT will absolutely choke when the panic starts.

There needn't be a large percentage of people stockpiling to cause shortages, just a small percentage will do to doom the JIT distribution/supply system.

People will panic when they realize they cannot obtain crucial medications, foods and other supplies. They will be traumatized.

Any medications that do become available will be very costly due to scarcity. The poor will suffer first.

Is there any way for JIT industries and suppliers to adjust now to handle any sizeable surge in customer demand before Y2K?

No. It's too late. Serious JIT rescheduling of this magnitude takes months.

Old Git knows this very well.

So does the government, but their spin is noxious.

They don't want the people to realize how precarious the supply system is.

They don't want to be responsible for causing a panic.

They are allowing the potential problems to increase. Idiots.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), August 13, 1999.