MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In an age where medication can be crucial to your health, the wait for them is getting longer.
On Nextdoor, some users told ABC24 they continued to run into days-long delays before they could get their medicine, if not longer.
"We constantly have problems getting their prescriptions on time. I have had to call all the different Walgreens to locate my mom’s heart pills and had to go to Walgreens on Houston Levi & Wolf River during a snow storm to secure these pills," said Deborah Campbell on Nextdoor.
"I waited for 2.5 months for my daughter’s ADHD medication," said Lee Gattas Proctor on Nextdoor.
Part of the issue has been linked to medication shortages or some suppliers stopping production of a certain product all together because it no longer makes enough money.
The American Society of Health System Pharmacists currently lists more than 230 drugs as facing shortages. When combined with an ongoing staff shortage that many larger pharmacies face, there can be a hold up.
“It could be a week to two weeks before your medication is ready just because of staffing concerns, not being able to staff, not being able to keep technicians,” said Stephen Hadley, Kirby Whitten Pharmacy Owner.
Hadley tells ABC24 local pharmacies have managed to avoid worse conditions many larger chains like CVS or Walgreens may face thanks to better working hours and using more than one drug manufacturer to avoid long waits. However, the pharmacists adds things at larger chains may not change until higher powers get involved.
“Federal and states are now getting to that point where they’re saying, ‘You’re affecting our citizens' health,’ and then that’s going to trickle down,” Hadley said.
Earlier this year, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy enacted several new rules to help tackle the ongoing issues pharmacies were facing in the state. Rules included making a new system for pharmacies to request additional staff, requiring prescriptions be filled in three business days and including a 30-minute break for pharmacists working for more than six hours.
In the meantime, the Harvard Medical Journal recommends ordering your prescriptions early and double checking them to make sure it matches what was given by the doctor. Hadley advises people to check on different pharmacies if they cannot find their medication at their first location.
“Call around, get a hard copy," Hadley said. "If they don’t have it, they can get it back to you. You can go to the next store and check to see if they have it.”