ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Drug stores across the country are facing a shortage of antibiotics.
A pharmacy in Orangeburg County is navigating these challenges.
“Amoxicillin is the go to for strep throat, ear infections, those normal things that we see in kids that don’t have allergies and then we move to cephalosporins when they have allergies so it’s just been a trickle effect on everything," said pharmacist Meredith Prescott.
Prescott works at Grove Park Pharmacy in Orangeburg. She says Amoxicillin is its most popular antibiotic in limited supply. This is commonly used as a liquid antibiotic to treat bacterial infections among children.
"It's been a huge team effort collaborating with doctor's offices, the other pharmacies in town as to what's available where and trying to find alternatives," she said.
She says another product becoming scarce is diabetic medication like Ozempic. According to Prescott, the rising popularity of this medication comes as more customers are being prescribed it to help with weight loss. This is creating a barrier to access of these medications for diabetic patients.
“It also adds extra extra stress on every store’s workflow when you’re constantly having to call a provider, call other pharmacies, having to find products for the patients," said Prescott.
Slowly but surely, she says she's seen some medications start to make their way back on the shelves. She's hoping in the months to come, the market will continue making progress toward a full recovery.
“We hope the market continues to recover and we’re seeing less shortages so that we can back on track and everything can be available for our patients because we know they need these medications," said Prescott.