Have you noticed your mail taking a little longer to arrive?
The delays have been due to operational changes within the United States Postal Service, and while politicians battle it out, Americans are left to deal with the consequences.
And while the majority of the time if a letter arrives a few days late or a package doesn’t come on time, it’s ok, but when it’s medicine that you rely on that’s when it becomes a major problem.
“Unfortunately, it has affected his health. He’s missed several doses,” Shameka Oliver told WSB-TV. “Manic episodes can last from two days to two weeks. So not having that medicine — it does something.”
Many veterans and elderly people rely on USPS to receive their medicine.
Oliver’s husband, who is a veteran and has bipolar depression, has found it extremely difficult to keep up with his medication because USPS has become unreliable.
He takes five different medications, but in recent weeks he hasn’t been able to receive them all at the same time. That means he’s not being properly treated.
And he’s not alone.
Don White, 82, has experienced a similar problem in Texas. White relies on USPS to deliver his heart medication. He told KHOU there were times before that it had been delayed, but this was the first time it had been delayed in transit for so long that he had run out.
“There have been a few times in which it’s taken a week, week and a half, two weeks, but this is the first time I actually ran out and checking with the post office didn’t do much good, even though I had a tracking number on it,” he said.
In this instance, White said he was able to see his medication sat at a processing facility for 10 days.
Thankfully his daughter was able to help him get an emergency supply of medicine from a local pharmacy while he waited for his package, but others like him might not be so lucky.
In a response to KHOU, the USPS said in part, “The Postal Service is flexing its available resources to match the workload created by the impacts of the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.”
They apologized for any inconvenience customers have experienced and expressed their appreciation for their employees who are working to deliver mail during these difficult times.
Has your medicine been impacted by changes with the USPS?
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