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Fellow PWPs, Caregivers, and Friends, By now most of you have heard about the year 2000 computer glitches and the potential disruptions they may cause. I want to again present the possibility of there being disruptions to continuous availability of prescription drugs and offer some suggestions as to what to begin doing about it. WHY THIS DESERVES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. You may question whether this could really happen. At this point we don't know. We can draw some inferences from the points below. You can take your chances or you can plan for the worst scenario. * The general year 2000 (aka Y2K) problem is serious enough that a Special Senate Committee headed by Utah Senator Bob Bennett, and a Presidential year 2000 project have been formed to deal with it. * The American Medical Association takes Y2K problems very seriously with regard to physicians' ability to maintain functional office practices. See www.ama-assn.org. * There is a long and complex chain of processes, mainly computer dependent, that go from obtaining raw materials for drug manufacture and extending to the final dispensing of drugs. These processes include manufacturing, inventory control, communications, delivery scheduling, plus scheduling of physician visits and obtaining and verifying insurance. Computer failure anywhere along the way could back things up. * Non-generic drugs (e.g., Tasmar, Mirapex, Permax) have by definition only a single manufacturer, and no alternative sources, thereby increasing their vulnerability to problems. * The health care industry is generally behind in dealing with Y2K. I should know - that's where I work. * Software projects often fail to meet initial target dates, because targets are estimates made before all the details of the project tasks and problems which may arise are known. * A number of businesses have created their own web pages on the status of their Y2K projects so as to reassure customers. I have searched the internet for indications of the status of such projects at pharmaceutical companies without yet finding anything. * Y2k problems will show up in computer scheduling functions before 1/1/2000. * There is also a year 1999 problem. Some computer programs have used (and may still use) 9's to represent not the year 1999, but a maximum limit. WHAT TO DO NOW. Here's what I can think of. * Possible disruptions affect all disease groups where drugs are prescribed for treatment. Make people with other diseases aware of the potential problem. * We need to know the status of Y2K in the pharmaceutical sector, including distributors. Contact members of the Special Senate Committee to get them to address this. They are: Republicans http://www.senate.gov/~bennett Robert F. Bennett, Utah http://www.senate.gov/~kyl Jon Kyl,Arizona http://www.senate.gov/~gsmith Gordon Smith, Oregon http://www.senate.gov/~collins Susan Collins, Maine http://www.senate.gov/~stevens Ted Stevens, Alaska Democrats http://www.senate.gov/~dodd Christopher J. Dodd, Connecticut http://www.senate.gov/~moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan, New York Http://www.senate.gov/~bingaman Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico http://www.senate.gov/~byrd Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia * Make consumer advocacy groups, such as the Consumers Union, aware of your concern. Write to the Consumers Union newsletter: Consumer Reports on Health, 101 Truman Ave., Yonkers NY 10703-1057. * Ask your pharmacy whether they are prepared or when they will be. Try to obtain the customer relations number of the pharmacy corporate office and ask the same question. See chain and community pharmacy association web pages at www.nacds.org and www.ncpanet.org for contact info. Also, ask who are the distributors and whether they will be ready. * If no satisfactory responses are forthcoming within a few weeks, it will be necessary to begin building reserve stocks. One way to do this may be to ask your physician to prescribe more pills than you need. We don't know now how long a disruption period to expect. * Keep informed. Monitor www.y2knews.com and www.rx2000.com. * Share relevant info on this subject with the Parkinsn list members. Who has further information or thoughts on this subject? Phil Tompkins Hoboken NJ 60/9