ATLANTA — Pharmacists across Georgia are trying to ease the fear of medication shortages in order to stave off the stockpiling that would turn those fears into reality. 

As COVID-19 spreads and panic sets in, pharmacists advise against stockpiling a 90-day supply of medications, even if prescriptions allow for it. 

People who suffer from lupus and rheumatoid arthritis regularly take the drug hydroxychloroquine to cope with daily symptoms and are at particular risk of medication shortages.

After President Donald Trump touted the drug as a possible treatment for coronavirus, multiple states have had to take emergency action to prevent doctors from hoarding the medication for themselves, and their friends and family — Georgia included.

“I hate to even say it, but that’s what it is,” Lisa Harris, president of the Georgia Board of Pharmacy, told CNHI. “There were doctors coming in wanting to buy it by the hundreds for family and friends. And we can’t do that. As much as we want to protect them because they’re the ones that are out there on the front lines, what it would become is a lot of people are going to need that drug — not to mention the people that are already on that drug for serious illnesses.”

FDA approved coronavirus treatment, will there be enough?

The Federal Drug Administration approved hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine — used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis — as emergency coronavirus treatments just this week.

Harris said before the approval, the board had to weigh the stakes of the medication falling in short supply for both patients who are dependent on it and coronavirus patients who may need it in life or death situations.

“We don’t want to deplete our store. We want to protect regular patients,” she said. “At the same time, if we do have people who need it, we don’t want to turn them away because doctors have it.”

Harris, who is the pharmacist in charge at Silver Creek Pharmacy in Silver Creek, said the state board decided to fall in line with other states that issued the same emergency restrictions or guidelines on how the drugs can be dispensed. Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Kentucky, are among a handful that have.

On March 27, the board issued an emergency ruling that any prescription or practitioner’s drug order for chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine or mefloquine must include diagnosis and evidence of that diagnosis, may only be dispensed for 14 days and automatic refills are not allowed.

The rule does not apply to patients using the drugs prior to the ruling.

Bill Posey, owner of Tifton Drug Company, said “As soon as it hit the air waves” that those medications could be possible treatment for coronavirus, “everybody bought it up.” Since then, the pharmacy has not been able to get another order.

Fortunately, he said, he has a good supply in his cabinet for the two dozen or so patients needing it.


“What does concern me, that patients who are on hydroxychloroquine either for their lupus or arthritis, we may — if this issue continues — we may run short on that,” he told CNHI. “Then people that are using it for the therapeutic benefits, which they have always used it for, now may not be able to get it.”

Posey said he is encouraging patients to stick with 30-day supplies of the medication so it can be rationed for as many patients as possible.

Nikki Bryant, owner of Adams Family Pharmacy which has two locations in southwest Georgia, said hydroxychloroquine has been in short supply for months now — before it was tipped off as a coronavirus treatment. Bryant said her pharmacies are not dispensing any new prescription unless it is for their several patients who use it currently to treat rheumatoid arthritis.


“We just don’t have enough of the drug to supply for those patients plus others that are just scared and want a prescription in case they get sick,” she said. “We have to be really careful about dispensing it only to the patients that have the medication for what it’s indicated for.”

‘Don’t go into panic mode’

Widespread panic that medications will run low isn’t just for potential coronavirus treatments, but for everyday medications. Bryant said she wants people to know local pharmacists aren’t going to let their patients down.

“The news media has put it out there about there being drug shortages and how you need to get a month’s worth of your medicine, so we are trying to put out those fires,” she told CNHI. “We’re just here to keep them calm and let them know we are going to be there for them. There’s no need or sense in stocking up on all these prescriptions because that creates shortages in the supply chain.”

On March 20, Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order allowing pharmacists to dispense up to a 90-day supply of medications if the patient needs a refill and the pharmacist cannot get in contact with the doctor. But the order doesn’t mean pharmacists are mandated to dispense the full amount.

Harris said the pharmacy board has issued further guidance for pharmacists on the executive order — the refill can only be used once per prescription and is not allowed for certain controlled substances.

Local pharmacists have been advising patients against stocking up on the full three-month refill. Pharmacists also noted a general decline in doctor’s office prescriptions, a possible indication that Georgians are heeding the Department of Public Health’s plea to stay out of primary physician offices and emergency rooms.

“I encourage everyone to not panic, don’t go into panic mode,” Posey said. “We have medication and we’re able to get medication to you. Please, for everyone’s benefit, don’t try to hoard medication, because in the big scheme of things that’s not going to help.”

As of right now, he said, pharmacists can get what patients need.

Most if not all local pharmacists have shut down access to their lobbies — except for patients without cars and in critical conditions — and are dispensing medications only by drive through or delivery. Posey said Tifton Drug Company is out on nearly three times as many prescription deliveries than usual — the demand so high he is looking to hire another staff member.

The pharmacy board has issued a variety of rules that comply with social distancing and shelter-in-place guidelines. One of the big issues, Harris said, is prescriptions need signature verification upon delivery. But with possibility of coronavirus transmission, the board has waived the requirement. The board also updated rules to allow retail pharmacists who are licensed in Georgia to enter prescriptions from home to help out.

Pharmacists are concerned about exposure, Harris said, if one staff member tests positive, it would shut the entire pharmacy down. Like doctors, nurses and hospital staff are on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus, Harris said, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are, too.

“When people get sick, they go to the drug store first and they say ‘I’ve got a runny nose, my throat is sore, a terrible cough and I have a fever,’” she told CNHI. “Patients are here with us first. And a lot of times and we don’t have a diagnosis. … Pharmacists need to stay healthy and they need to be taken care of.”

Bryant said pharmacists already face small staffs and if half are out, stores might have to shut down. The impact would be devastating, especially in rural areas of Georgia with high demand of medications and few pharmacists to fill them.

“We’ve truly tried to protect ourselves as much as we can so that we don’t have to stop working,” she said. “We can’t afford to shut our pharmacy down for 14 days and we all work very closely, physically together in the pharmacy. If one of us gets sick — that’s our biggest concern — is having to close our pharmacy and how that would impact the community.”