U.S. medical professionals have warned that strikes at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports would severely impact patients' access to critical medicines. According to New York City emergency room physician Robert Glatt, "The looming strike could impact imports from other countries of medical supplies and critical life-saving drugs that U.S. hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers rely on to treat patients." At the same time, it could also limit the amount of life-saving drugs and surgical supplies the U.S. exports to other countries.
Port strikes could have 'devastating' impact on economy
The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), which negotiates on behalf of 45,000 longshoremen at 36 U.S. ports, and the United States Maritime Union (USMX), which represents port employers, remain at an impasse over wages in the new contract.
The International Longshoremen's Association has warned that its members will be prepared to stop work if no new contracts are met by the Oct. 1 deadline, which would leave industries stranded as the affected ports from Maine to Texas combined handle about half of the nation's seaborne imports.
In the pharmaceutical industry, more than 91% of U.S. pharmaceutical container imports and 69% of container exports are handled by affected ports, according to Everstream Analytics.
More than one-third of containers containing life-saving drugs exported from the United States depart from the Port of Norfolk, Virginia, while nearly 30% of containerized pharmaceutical imports enter the United States from the Port of Charleston, South Carolina.
Pat Basu, managing partner at Varsity Healthcare Partners, said the strike could have a "dangerous" impact on access to medicines because the "vast majority" of medicines are handled by ports.
Basu said the strike occurred at a time when many health care providers had already moved to a "just in time" supply model to save money. This means they have less medication on hand.