Warner-Lambert has been drop-shipping Dilantin (phenytoin) while rebuilding supply following the effects of Hurricane Georges on the company's Fajardo, Puerto Rico manufacturing facility.

The company is routing Dilantin requests through its medical affairs division, which, in turn, has made emergency shipments of the drug as needed. Production of Dilantin has resumed and distribution is expected to return to normal by mid-December, Parke-Davis said. The hurricane struck Puerto Rico Sept. 21.

The company temporarily used emergency drop-shipments of Nitrostat (nitroglycerin) to its largest customers, Walgreen and Eckerd, until normal distribution of Nitrostat resumed on Oct. 30.

The Fajardo plant and Parke-Davis' other Puerto Rico facility in Nova Baja were closed for eight days due to minor flooding. No inventory was lost to the storm. In the aftermath, the Fajardo plant has been running seven days a week, 20 hours per day.

Wyeth-Ayerst's Zosyn (piperacillin/tazobactam) is also in tight supply, chiefly due to transportation difficulties in Puerto Rico.

The company has been shipping the product directly, with hospitals receiving top priority, Wyeth said. The supply is expected to loosen in mid-December, but the company offered no estimate for when distribution would return to normal. No shortages are expected, Wyeth said.

Baxter's plant in Jayuya, P.R. is running again after experiencing temporary difficulties with the remote town's water supply and transportation infrastructure following the hurricane. The plant manufactures drugs in flexible containers, blood and blood components.

Few pharmaceutical companies sustained more than minimal structural damage to their facilities, but lingering problems with transportation, communications and utility services have hampered the industry. Many local pharmaceutical employees have suffered considerable losses of property.

Several companies have responded with hurricane relief efforts. Merck has donated $2.3 mil. in cash and medical supplies to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The company has 1,700 employees in the two areas.

Merck has pledged an additional $1.5 mil. to the American Red Cross, $500,000 of which is earmarked for immediate distribution towards hurricane relief, with the remaining $1 mil. to be paid over the next five years. The company also donated $800,000 for hurricane relief in the Dominican Republic, much of it through Project Hope.

Donations of $70,000 were collected among Baxter employees for their Puerto Rico colleagues, and the company made a contribution for a total of $210,000.

The company credit union arranged quick loans and loan guarantees to cover employee losses, and the Baxter Allegiance Foundation donated $100,000, half to the American Red Cross in Puerto Rico and half to the Free Zone Association in the Dominican Republic, where Baxter has employees as well.

Several pharmaceutical companies have also contributed to relief efforts in Honduras and Nicaragua in the wake of Hurricane Mitch, which hit in late October. Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Belize were also hit, but not as severely.

Bayer has donated $4.2 mil. in pharmaceutical supplies, including 65,000 doses of BayTet tetanus hyperimmune globulin, thousands of doses of Cipro (ciprofloxacin), aspirin and vitamins, chiefly through the Roberto Clemente Health Clinic in Nicaragua, which Bayer helped establish.

Antibiotics, vaccines, antifungal and antiparasitic drugs, analgesics and nutritional supplements are urgently needed. MAP International has shipped $11 mil. in medical supplies to date, largely from donations by pharmaceutical companies, the organization said.

The American Red Cross expects to spend more than $113 mil. for hurricane relief in 1998, up from $98 mil. in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew struck. The 1998 projection does not include relief provided to victims of Hurricane Mitch.

There are no signs yet of developing epidemics in the Mitch-affected region, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported. If donations of antibiotics and vaccines continue to be adequate, none is expected.

Dilantin, Zosyn In Tight Supply As Puerto Rico Production Recovers

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