Port strike could delay delivery of essential medicines: It could be ‘disastrous,’ doctors say

Patients’ access to essential medicines may be at risk if there are prolonged strikes at ports along the East and Gulf coasts, medical experts warn.

Susan Thomas, chief business officer of pharmacy benefits manager LucyRx, says many people don’t realize how many drugs are manufactured outside the US.

The reality of this situation, according to an emergency room doctor in New York City, Dr. Robert Glatter, “is that the upcoming strike could affect imported medical supplies and critical life-saving drugs from other countries that US hospitals and surgical centers depend on for transportation. their patients.”

It could also reduce the amount of life-saving medicine and surgical equipment the US exports, Glatter said.

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International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA)which is negotiating on behalf of 45,000 dock workers at thirty American ports, and the US Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents dock employers, are still stuck on wages in the new contract.

The ILA warned that its members are ready to stop working if they do not have a new contract by the Oct. deadline. 1, putting various sectors at a disadvantage as the affected ports from Maine to Texas together deal with almost half of the country’s ocean. imported.

In the pharmaceutical industry, more than 91% of imports and 69% of exports of US pharmaceutical products are handled by affected ports, according to Everstream Analytics.

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More than three-thirds of US shipments of life-saving medicines depart from the Port of Norfolk in Virginia, while nearly 30% of imports enter the US at the port of Virginia. The Charleston, South Carolina, firm noted.

Dr. Pat Basu, managing partner of Varsity Healthcare Partners, told FOX Business that the strike could have a “dangerous” effect on access to medicines because “a large number of medicines” are handled by the ports.

The strike comes at a time when many health care providers have moved to a “just in time” delivery system to save money, according to Basu. This means they have less medicine on hand.

“While manufacturers and wholesalers may carry a month or more of certain drugs, the closer you get to the point of contact with the patient, which is the suppliers and retail pharmacies, they have a supply that very little, about five to seven days in most cases,” Basu said.

To make matters worse, some drugs or environments have limited access and some drugs with short shelf lives may be disproportionately affected. Also, some large organizations may maintain multiple lists, which may limit access to others, Basu said.

Patients who may be concerned about their medications running out can start monitoring their supplies and ordering a 90-day supply, if possible, to minimize potential side effects, Thomas said.

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Another possibility is that the patient may be able to talk to his doctor about starting other medications. However, that may not always be an option.

Dr. Tiffany Moon, an assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, warned that “there are many life-saving medications that patients need without interruption or discontinuation.”

Chief among them will be things like “chemotherapy, where people use different drugs, chemotherapeutics, for different types of cancer,” said Moon. “If they fall out of control it can throw off the whole cycle of chemotherapy.”

It can be “painful” if a person is forced to stop taking their oncology medication, for example, because “the cancer may come back…

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Moon said patients with type 1 diabetes who cannot get insulin, for example, “can go into a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be life-threatening.”

Moon also realized how important anti-rejection drugs are. He said that patients “need these anti-rejection drugs so that their body does not reject the organ they receive.”

FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.