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Pharmacist says drug supply chain interrupted by many factors amid outbreak



PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) - The Food and Drug Administration reports a shortage of more than 100 medications.

Atlantis Pharmacy fills nearly 6,000 prescriptions a month.

2 professors on staff monitor trends to avoid running out of medication, which helped ahead of the outbreak.

“We ran a list and made sure our patients have everything that they needed, to get ahead of the curve," said Pharmacist and Assistance Professor Erin Doval.


While the FDA tracks drug shortages, Atlantis Pharmacy Manager and Pharmacists Damien Simmons says that it doesn't paint a full picture.

“Watching the shortage of drugs is like watching the stock market," he told CBS12 News. "It goes up and down continuously.”

Simmons pulled up a website to show our crew how the pharmacy orders the supply. As he showed CBS12 News, while a medication may not be available through 1 manufacturer it's available through another.

He also says due to the pandemic, there have been many challenges that have interrupted the supply chain.

“The problem lies in the fact that big, big facilities if they have one person that tests positive, they have to shut down the whole wing," Simmon said. "So, everybody in that wing has to self-quarantine for 2 weeks.”

That slows down transporting stock from facilities to pharmacy shelves. In addition to facilities operating with less staff to abide by CDC guidelines.

Then stay-at-home orders have played a huge role in more demand for Adderall and Ritalin.

"All the kids are at home now, so guess what? They have to focus even more now. They have a professor on the other line that’s yelling at them on a Zoom class, with 30 other students, which is quite challenging," Simmons said.

The other big spike Simmons has seen if for Metformin, a diabetic medication.

"Most people are home and they tend to snack more and they are eating more, so the diabetics take more the medication now," he said.

Simmons says if your local pharmacy can't refill a prescription, it's important to talk to your doctors about other alternatives.


https://cbs12.com/news/coronavirus/pharmacist-says-drug-supply-chain-interrupted-by-many-factors-amid-outbreak