Pfizer pharmaceutical plant heavily damaged

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Tornado damages Pfizer plant in North Carolina as scorching heat and floods sock other parts of US​

ABC|2 hours ago
A tornado has heavily damaged a major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina —

Parts of roofs were ripped open atop its massive buildings. The Pfizer plant stores large quantities of medicine that were tossed about, said Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone.
“I’ve got reports of 50,000 pallets of medicine that are strewn across the facility and damaged through the rain and the wind," Stone said.

The plant produces anesthesia and other drugs as well as nearly 25% of all sterile injectable medications used in U.S. hospitals, Pfizer said on its website.

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Probably not going to help shortages already happening.

 

[FelixDeCat]

lol

Free pharmaceuticals! (slightly damaged)

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Got to love lean methodology and Just-In-Time supply chains.

Of all the shit we throw tax dollars away on, ensuring we have a buffer or national stockpile of the critical shit feels like something everyone can get behind.

 

[zinfamous]

Got to love lean methodology and Just-In-Time supply chains.

Of all the shit we throw tax dollars away on, ensuring we have a buffer or national stockpile of the critical shit feels like something everyone can get behind.

that sounds like a communism, tho

 

[thilanliyan]

lol

Free pharmaceuticals! (slightly damaged)

You should come to a civilized nation, it's free ALL THE TIME!

 

[allisolm]

Oops! The prices of all medications will now skyrocket with this as the excuse.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Stockpiling things with limited shelf life sounds counterproductive...

 

[hal2kilo]

Tornado damages Pfizer plant in North Carolina as scorching heat and floods sock other parts of US​

ABC|2 hours ago
A tornado has heavily damaged a major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina —

Parts of roofs were ripped open atop its massive buildings. The Pfizer plant stores large quantities of medicine that were tossed about, said Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone.
“I’ve got reports of 50,000 pallets of medicine that are strewn across the facility and damaged through the rain and the wind," Stone said.

The plant produces anesthesia and other drugs as well as nearly 25% of all sterile injectable medications used in U.S. hospitals, Pfizer said on its website.

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Probably not going to help shortages already happening.

Hope it not cancer meds. There's a big shortage already.

 

[Pens1566]

Stockpiling things with limited shelf life sounds counterproductive...

Generally the "limited shelf life" is just a somewhat reduced efficacy (depending on drug in question). I would think in terms of emergency/catastrophe, a slightly less effective dosage would be better than none.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Stockpiling things with limited shelf life sounds counterproductive...

-I'm thinking more like the strategic reserve of oil, its not a true stockpile, its more of a "new production in, old stored inventory out" type of buffer rather than a proper durable good stockpile that just sits there forever.

So meds would move out and get used before they expired, but if there is a disruption in production there would still be a 3-6 month source of these medicines while supply got sorted out. Buffer price shocks and such.

 

[FelixDeCat]

You should come to a civilized nation, it's free ALL THE TIME!

Im packing my bags right now! Where am I off to? Cuba?

 

[uclaLabrat]

Generally the "limited shelf life" is just a somewhat reduced efficacy (depending on drug in question). I would think in terms of emergency/catastrophe, a slightly less effective dosage would be better than none.

That's not at all how drugs work. There is a defined shelf life supported by data and approved by the FDA. I would be VERY surprised if they released material to market outside of spec. Doing so without FDA approval is how you get your ass shut down.

 

[uclaLabrat]

-I'm thinking more like the strategic reserve of oil, its not a true stockpile, its more of a "new production in, old stored inventory out" type of buffer rather than a proper durable good stockpile that just sits there forever.

So meds would move out and get used before they expired, but if there is a disruption in production there would still be a 3-6 month source of these medicines while supply got sorted out. Buffer price shocks and such.

Thats precisley what im saying. Some of these items very likely have a complete shelf life of 6 mos-1 year. And thats from date of manufacture, of which lot release testing can take a few weeks to 3 months easy.


So stockpiling these things would mean uncle sam would be in charge of a very complex logistical chain involving cold storage and an inventory turnover of 100% within the defined shelf life. That would be fun for amazon, let alone the government.

 

[Jaskalas]

So stockpiling these things would mean uncle sam would be in charge of a very complex logistical chain involving cold storage and an inventory turnover of 100% within the defined shelf life. That would be fun for amazon, let alone the government.

And then a Republican would become President and demand it be run like a for-profit business.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Thats precisley what im saying. Some of these items very likely have a complete shelf life of 6 mos-1 year. And thats from date of manufacture, of which lot release testing can take a few weeks to 3 months easy.


So stockpiling these things would mean uncle sam would be in charge of a very complex logistical chain involving cold storage and an inventory turnover of 100% within the defined shelf life. That would be fun for amazon, let alone the government.

Lol alright then let's just do what "works" and subsidize this shit like a farm. We'll pay pharmabros to keep additional production facilities open even if it normally means throwing some of the product away.

 

[UNCjigga]

Heard it was an F3 tornado—which never happens here in NC in the middle of July.

 

[Pens1566]

That's not at all how drugs work. There is a defined shelf life supported by data and approved by the FDA. I would be VERY surprised if they released material to market outside of spec. Doing so without FDA approval is how you get your ass shut down.

Yeah, it is.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/stay... they found from the,has become unsafe to use.

Not saying I'd necessarily want to follow that path under normal circumstances, but ...

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Yeah, it is.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything#:~:text=What they found from the,has become unsafe to use.

Not saying I'd necessarily want to follow that path under normal circumstances, but ...

-Holy. Shit. People actually throw stuff out of their medicine cabinet?

This is absolutely news to me.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Yeah, it is.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything#:~:text=What they found from the,has become unsafe to use.

Not saying I'd necessarily want to follow that path under normal circumstances, but ...

Thats how chemistry works, sure, but as the article points out, the drug approval process is very different. Additionally, that article describes how people should treat shit literally in their medicine cabinet, not released from the manufacturer to market.

Those are very different scenarios.

 

[Pens1566]

Thats how chemistry works, sure, but as the article points out, the drug approval process is very different. Additionally, that article describes how people should treat shit literally in their medicine cabinet, not released from the manufacturer to market.

Those are very different scenarios.

The original point you made was "limited shelf life" not FDA approval. And shelf life is much longer than expiration date. Exactly my point.

Two entirely different things, like you just said.

 

[kitkat22]

There is also a very real difference between pills and liquid medications. Many of our IV meds in the hospital are light and heat sensitive. Once reconstituted, the shelf-life is measured in hours. That includes several antibiotics and things like amiodarone.

Pills, especially non-liquid, last forever.

 

[thilanliyan]

Im packing my bags right now! Where am I off to? Cuba?

Canada but Cuba works too! Glad you've seen the light

 

[Pens1566]

There is also a very real difference between pills and liquid medications. Many of our IV meds in the hospital are light and heat sensitive. Once reconstituted, the shelf-life is measured in hours. That includes several antibiotics and things like amiodarone.

Pills, especially non-liquid, last forever.

Yeah, specialty stuff that has to be mixed as needed based on individual patient details is one thing I was specifically thinking of as "not included" in my earlier posts. Think chemo drugs.