December 2023 - Newsletter #1

Drug Shortages Rage On as the End of the Year Approaches

As we approach the end of the year, reports of drug shortages persist. Earlier this year we reported that drug shortages have increased by 30% in the USA while everything from over-the-counter-medications, antibiotics, ADHD medicines, to chemotherapy drugs and more continue to face shortages internationally.

Nearly all hospital system pharmacists recently surveyed said they were experiencing drug shortages that are negatively impacting patient care and a third of those impacts are considered ‘critical’.

This is corroborated by another survey of procurement professionals and staff of 200 hospitals and health systems. As reported by the Association of Healthcare Journalists:

• 49% reported treatment delays.
• 32% reported being unable to provide a recommended drug or treatment.
• 21% believed patients received less effective drugs.
• 5% reported other adverse outcomes

Raging drug shortages have just prompted the Biden Administration to invoke the Defense Production Act in an effort to strengthen the domestic U.S. drug supply chain.

The situation isn’t very different in Canada and beyond, where Canadians too are facing record levels of drug shortages and so are people in other countries.

We Can Help You Get Medications that are Shorted but We Ask for Your Assistance in Doing So

NorthWestPharmacy.com customers have a significant advantage during times of drug shortages because we source products from our approved supply network across several countries. Our approach to sourcing medications that are shorted in one or more countries has been quite successful for over a decade. While that doesn’t mean we are able to get every medication that is unavailable at your local pharmacy, we have helped many thousands of people get critically important medications when they could not find them anywhere else, and best of all, we have been able to do so at substantial discounts to what they would have paid their local pharmacies.

If there is a shortage in one region for a medication, we are often able to quickly shift to one or more of our approved suppliers in other regions to get you the medication you need. If you know anyone struggling to obtain medications due to a shortage locally or the high cost, we are here to help. There is a good chance we can get them their medication at an affordable price. Please let them know about NorthWestPharmacy.com.

With the knowledge you get from our newsletters and the media about worldwide drug shortages, please plan ahead to help minimize the risk that your medications could be depleted. We continue to work hard to obtain prescription drug inventories because things can and do change very quickly in prescription drug supply chains and we also ask our customers to help by ordering in advance. Please don’t wait till you are just about to run out of your medication before reordering. This gives us more time to procure what might be difficult to source inventory and get it shipped to you well before you are going to run out of your supply at home.

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