(un)Natural tornado hits Pfizer factory causing more drug shortages

My intended piece will be a little late, both of them in fact. My laptop suffered a catastrophic failure and I had to spend most of my Saturday and parts of this Sunday setting up my old and trusty one. Slow and steady wins the race in its case. As a side note, what Lenovo did to this line of laptops (G545), it has been 20 years, and this thing is still going, true sorcerous engineering.


I postponed today’s piece by the simple level of importance, sharing a couple of articles that picked my interest, on the sad state of scientific advancement (or lack of) and medicine and its gamed trials aren’t as important as the next one, both subjects that are “near and dear” to me. What supplanted said article has both domestic implications (to Americans and Canadians) and global ones too, the implications are rather significant if you take into account second order and cascade effects.

On July 19, 2023, a Pfizer production and storage facility was hit by a tornado, captured by the dashcam of a contractor (video source)

I know what some, or many of you will say next. “Finally, karma is a cruel and heartless mistress” or things of that nature. I understand the sentiment, nonetheless, there is a small problem. Besides greed and corruption, there are another few traits pharmaceutical companies are notorious for. Lethargy towards change, slow adaptative capacity, and the most egregious and one that has continuously bitten the world on its metaphorical glutes, centralized production. The US government is also at fault here, especially the useless FDA.

The following is a small list of the dozen of drugs produced in this facility.

Source

Pfizer Warns of Medicine Supply Disruptions from Tornado Damage

• Sixty-five formats and formulations are at risk of shortages

• Anesthetics, painkillers and other medicines may be affected

"While disclosure laws prevent the FDA from providing a complete list of products made at the facility, there is redundancy in the supply chain due to other manufacturers," the commissioner said. "Our initial analysis has identified less than 10 drugs for which Pfizer's North Carolina plant is the sole source for the U.S. market; however, a number of these are specific formulations for which there should be substitutes or for which many weeks' worth of stock should be available in Pfizer's other warehouses."

"For those products produced at this facility that are already in or may be at risk of shortage, the FDA has initiated mitigation steps, such as looking for additional sources and asking other manufacturers to prepare to ramp up production, if needed," he added.

Drug shortages have been something I kept track of for most of this Substack existence.

Accelerated cancer and drug shortages

Persistent drug shortages in 2023

Anesthesiologists are another can of worms I rather not open now, but to put bluntly there has been a shortage of workers in the field for the last 13 years, to the point you can find thoughtful ideas on LinkedIn on how to address these problems. The problem with specific drug shortages is simple to understand when you try to look from a non-linear perspective.

Antibiotics shortage > can’t properly treat infections > poorly treat infection causes immunological changes > person is prescribed corticoids > secondary infection > repeat step 1

At the surface level, many of these shortages can both create new shortages, and supply bottlenecks such as the one that will happen because of this (un)natural event, an inflationary trend leading to higher costs since demand stays the same or higher at certain times of the year, but at a non-linear, deeper level, it creates a cascade of immunological changes that reverberates throughout the whole healthcare system.

A prime example of the only other drug I sometimes suggest people take and also my second favorite, Modafinil. Ritalin and Adderall shortages aren’t improving, and will probably get worse, and most likely doctors are overprescribing Modafinil as a substitute. Which is great, Modafinil is infinitely superior to both of these, but not great when the price skyrockets to the literal moon. For your awareness, the FDA has a drug shortage list that is frequently updated, and so does Europe.

I will reiterate the point I always make when it comes to my pieces about drug shortages.
It doesn’t hurt to have a small stash of certain useful drugs, as a “break glass in case of emergency”. I am not a big fan of repeating myself, but this is an exception, I will repeat myself to the point of annoyance.

Sometimes I like to indulge myself in some conspiracy, as a thought exercise, or for some other reason. That Pfizer facility is a hell of a hybrid war target, wouldn’t you agree ? And no, I don’t believe in “weather manipulation”, but weather modification at some level is real, but weather “incentivization”… well, you be the judge of that.

Source

Until tomorrow.

Thank you for your support and for reading my work !