Working around the clock to keep pharmacy shelves stocked
The March 30 article “For R.I. pharmacists, virus is a formula for stress” highlighted the challenges that pharmacies are combating on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak.
It noted a major concern: pharmacies could face shortages of necessary medications and supplies as the health-care supply chain becomes increasingly strained. I want to reassure Rhode Island’s pharmacists and patients that America’s pharmaceutical distributors are working tirelessly to address these challenges and doing everything they can to ensure that available medications and supplies are reaching pharmacies, hospitals and health-care providers in Rhode Island and nationwide.
While this outbreak has raised unprecedented challenges for the entire supply chain, we are taking proactive steps every day to address and respond to these challenges. Through cooperation across the public and private sectors, distributors are identifying stress points in the supply chain and striving to secure a continuous and safe supply of needed medications.
Our partners in the government are helping expand regulatory flexibility that will let us shift our operations quickly to meet patient needs, and we are identifying new suppliers.
Distributors will continue working around the clock to keep pharmacy shelves stocked and our medical professionals equipped with the necessary tools to tackle this crisis. Working together, we will get through this.
Chester “Chip” Davis Jr.
The writer is president and CEO of the Healthcare Distributors Alliance.
I don’t buy states’ excuses for delaying many unemployment claims
States are claiming the computers are crashing because of the numbers of claims. I say nonsense. And people cannot get through on the phone lines. What a crock.
This has been going on for over a decade and they know it and have done nothing to remedy it. It is by design.
When I worked at Foxwoods Casino, we had kiosks and terminals that would handle hundreds of thousands of people weekly, accurately and with no problems.
Maybe the states should hire the casinos to show them how to do it.
Stop with the excuses.
Nick Gencarelle, Newport
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