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The potential for a disruption in the continuous availability of prescription drugs due to year 2000 computer glitches is finally getting a little public attention, regretable as it may be that such attention is needed. Here are some items of interest that I have gathered for the benefit of anyone who is concerned The October issue of AARP Bulletin carries a feature article on year 2000 problems. Regarding prescription drugs, it says, "If you take prescription drugs, especially medicine for a chronic condition, authorities say it would be prudent to add an extra week or two of pills to your supply before January 2000." It doesn't identify "authorities." AARP also recommends preparing for the remote possibility of a power outage. As it so happens, I had clipped a small AP article from my local paper a few weeks ago about a power-related disruption in the supply of Parke-Davis's 0.3 mg Nitrostat nitroglycerin tablets. A power outage from a hurricane in Puerto Rico caused the only factory that supplies these tablets in this size to the U.S. to shut down producion for 8 days. A shortage was created, and patients phoned the drug company headquarters in New Jersey to express their concern. This tablet is of course for cardiac patients, and other, larger sizes were available. However, this does illustrate one way in which prescription drug supplies may be vulnerable in January 2000. Fortunately, there are several suppliers of sinemet and Eldepryl. As to the newer PD medicines, I don't know whether any come from just one factory. I had written to my Congressman, Robert Menendez (D. NJ), who is now the 4th ranking Democrat in the House, to check whether he was aware of the Y2K problem potential for prescription drugs and to ask who was monitoring it. He replied, "...As of now, I do not know of any efforts made to investigate this issue. However, I have written the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to express my concerns and to request that they send you any information they have on the issue." It's a start. Needless to say, I have yet to hear from the FDA. Now that I have gotten Menendez's attention, I can write again. When we discussed year 2000 on the list before, someone wrote that they wouldn't be able to stock up in advance because they only got their prescriptions a month at a time, due I think to a Medicaid restriction. (Do I remember this correctly?) I neglected to mention this to the Congressman, so I will bring it to his attention in my next letter, if someone will again please give me the details, along with any other related problems anyone following this topic may wish to point out. Phil Tompkins Hoboken NJ age 60/dx 1990