{"id":11187,"date":"2024-08-13T09:01:21","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T09:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=11187"},"modified":"2024-08-13T09:26:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T09:26:04","slug":"hot-summer-threatens-efficacy-of-mail-order-medications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=11187","title":{"rendered":"Hot Summer Threatens Efficacy of Mail-Order Medications"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The temperatures inside delivery trucks can reach twice the recommended threshold, but federal rules on drug storage conditions do not apply to the booming world of mail-order delivery.<\/p>\n

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Melted capsules. Cloudy insulin. Pills that may no longer work.<\/p>\n

Doctors and pharmacists say the scorching temperatures enveloping the country could be endangering people\u2019s health in an unexpected way: by overheating their medications.<\/p>\n

Millions of Americans now receive their prescription medications through mail-order shipments, either for convenience or because their health plans require it. But the temperatures inside the cargo areas of delivery trucks<\/a> can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, according to drivers<\/a> \u2014 far exceeding the range of 68 to 77 degrees recommended by the national organization that sets standards for drug handling.<\/p>\n

Mail-order pharmacies say that their packaging is weather resistant<\/a> and that they take special precautions when medication \u201crequires specific temperature control.\u201d But in a study published last year, independent pharmaceutical researchers who embedded data-logging thermometers inside simulated shipments found that the packages had spent more than two-thirds<\/a> of their transit time outside the appropriate temperature range, \u201cregardless of the shipping method, carrier, or season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Extreme temperatures can alter the components in many medications, from pancreatic enzymes to the thyroid replacement drug levothyroxine<\/a> to oral contraceptives, medical experts say.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mike Ren<\/a>, a primary care physician and an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, said that liquid medications like insulin<\/a> or AUVI-Q, the epinephrine injection for allergic reactions, are often at heightened risk of degradation because excessive heat exposure can cause the evaporation of liquid components that were compounded at precise ratios. Aerosolized medications, too, are uniquely vulnerable because of the risk of pressure changes in the canister.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A summertime delivery route in Brooklyn. Temperatures inside the cargo areas of delivery trucks can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, according to drivers.
<\/span>Johnny Milano for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The temperatures inside delivery trucks can reach twice the recommended threshold, but federal rules on drug storage conditions do not apply to the booming world of mail-order delivery.Melted capsules. Cloudy insulin. Pills that may no longer work.Doctors and pharmacists say the scorching temperatures enveloping the country could be endangering people\u2019s health in an unexpected way: by overheating their medications.Millions of Americans now receive their prescription medications through mail-order shipments, either for convenience or because their health plans require it. But the temperatures inside the cargo areas of delivery trucks can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, according to drivers \u2014 far exceeding the range of 68 to 77 degrees recommended by the national organization that sets standards for drug handling.Mail-order pharmacies say that their packaging is weather resistant and that they take special precautions when medication \u201crequires specific temperature control.\u201d But in a study published last year, independent pharmaceutical researchers who embedded data-logging thermometers inside simulated shipments found that the packages had spent more than two-thirds of their transit time outside the appropriate temperature range, \u201cregardless of the shipping method, carrier, or season.\u201dExtreme temperatures can alter the components in many medications, from pancreatic enzymes to the thyroid replacement drug levothyroxine to oral contraceptives, medical experts say.Dr. Mike Ren, a primary care physician and an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, said that liquid medications like insulin or AUVI-Q, the epinephrine injection for allergic reactions, are often at heightened risk of degradation because excessive heat exposure can cause the evaporation of liquid components that were compounded at precise ratios. Aerosolized medications, too, are uniquely vulnerable because of the risk of pressure changes in the canister.A summertime delivery route in Brooklyn. Temperatures inside the cargo areas of delivery trucks can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, according to drivers.Johnny Milano for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11189,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11187"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11190,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11187\/revisions\/11190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}