July 2020 - Newsletter #1

Shortage of Generic Drugs in the USA is 'Likely' Says Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Report

The Intelligence Report

A recently released intelligence report from the Department of Homeland security warns of more drug shortages in the United States. "The report, prepared by the Department of Homeland Security and distributed [last] Thursday to law enforcement and government agencies around the country, warned that the U.S. is already seeing shortages of more than 200 drugs and medical supplies due to strains on the supply chain caused by international shutdowns early on in the pandemic." That is from ABC News which obtained a copy of the report. After reviewing the report, ABC News further confirms that "[w]ith coronavirus outbreaks continuing to spread across the world, the United States is 'likely' to see a shortage of generic pharmaceutical drugs."

More concerning is that, according to the ABC News's review of the intelligence report, "[t]hose shortages would only be made worse should unchecked outbreaks force yet another round of widespread shutdowns, the analysts concluded, further straining the system in a way that many U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies would be 'unable to quickly offset.'" Key reasons cited in the ABC News article for drug shortages in the United States are the slowdown in the production of raw materials for pharmaceuticals in China and lockdowns in India.

NorthWestPharmacy.com Provided this Intelligence Long Ago

We've been on the front lines working with our trusted, licensed and vetted suppliers around the clock worldwide to source the prescription drugs that our customers need while the NorthWestPharmacy.com newsletter has been reporting twice a week since the pandemic began, our challenges (including inventory procurement ones), our successes and how these impact you so the news above from the Department of Homeland Security will come as little surprise to those who've been regularly reading NorthWestPharmacy.com newsletters. In fact, we first warned about worldwide drug shortages in our newsletters of March this year and continued to do so as the situation grew worse.

We have explained to customers how the production of raw materials in China and finished dosages in India are critical to the supply of prescription drugs worldwide, including the United States. We've detailed how the coronavirus crisis has wreaked havoc on pharmaceutical production and that drug shortages are at the highest levels we've ever seen all over the globe and that this is confirmed by pharmacists in various regions of the world in surveys of these pharmacy professionals. On Monday, our newsletter warned that parts of China are back in lockdown again and parts of India are experiencing a "ballooning outbreak" so a resulting loss or reduction of manufacturing capacity could further impact the growing list of pharmaceutical products that are out of stock.

Shipping Rates are Going Up and So Could Delivery Times but We've Reduced our Shipping Fee for Our Customers

Last week we also advised customers that shipping rates to the USA will rise on July 1, 2020 and the reasons this is happening. Despite this and the continued Covid-19 surcharges that carriers and cargo companies are charging us, NorthWestPharmacy.com will not only absorb the upcoming rate increase but we have also reduced our shipping fee to customers down to the pre-pandemic level.

We will do our best to maintain the lower shipping fee and product-specific free shipping specials we are offering as another way to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus crisis on our customers but we do not know what further Covid-19 surcharges or other rate increases we will face in the coming weeks so we may only be able to maintain the lower shipping fee of today for a limited time.

The coronavirus crisis has thrown delivery systems worldwide into upheaval which has extended delivery times. With infections surging in the United States again, it is reasonable to expect that last mile delivery in the United States could face further setbacks of the sort they did before or worse.

But the good news is that NorthWestPharmacy.com has been successfully taking, processing and delivering affordable prescription drugs throughout the entire coronavirus crisis and continues to. So, we do not wish to appear alarmist in highlighting concerns about the supply of prescription drugs in the coming months but we do directly experience the frustration of those who cannot get their vital prescription drugs when there are so many disruptions in the drug supply chain due to the coronavirus crisis. We do not want our customers to be in a position where procurement of inventory and delivery logistics could be more negatively impacted than they already are today and we believe it is our duty to diligently inform customers.

In light of the escalating number of prescription drugs going out of stock, the risk of extended delivery timelines and a potentially time-limited reduced shipping fee, we encourage customers who may need medications in the coming months to place their orders now and those whose pending orders await shipping to keep their orders active and in the queue, which ensures they are locked in at the original price quoted at the time of placing the order. That's beneficial to you because we've absorbed much of the coronavirus-related increases in product acquisition and shipping costs that we've faced to date but may be unable to do so for much longer. Also, the limited pharmaceutical supply, available cargo space for transport and customs clearances will all be allocated to customers on a first-come-first-served basis and we anticipate that it may be quite some time before worldwide drug supply and delivery systems return to normal.

With more than 375,000 customer reviews, NorthWestPharmacy.com is the most reviewed and independently five-star rated online pharmacy in the world providing lower cost medications from abroad to customers worldwide. No competitor offering lower cost pharmaceuticals from abroad can match our supply and delivery capacity during this difficult time so please be assured we are leveraging all our capacity to ensure orders reach customers as fast as possible in the circumstances.

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