Ephedrine is shipping today.

So i've been ratcheting up the pressure the last couple weeks trying to get the Ephedrine to flow, and when I last spoke with Melanie at West-ward, she told me that GPSI isn't going to be able to make good on their contract to do the gelatin banding (at least for now). That pretty much means that there won't be any new Ephedrine shipping for a while. Good thing there's old Ephedrine to ship, eh?

Yep....that's right! Melanie told me that since GPSI has dropped the ball, West-ward has decided to re-label and re-stock some EXPIRED product that they had in order to fill my prescription.

Well, obviously that's a tough pill to swallow (pun) because they could have easily re-labeled and re-stocked this expired product MONTHS AGO. All this suffering i've gone through could have been avoided with just a little paperwork.

I got a call a few minutes ago from Joe, the lead pharmacist at King Soopers and he told me that he was able to successfully order 6 bottles from his wholesaler Cardinal. And then he told me it would take 5-7 business days to ship.

I just about freaked out.

Of course, I was again on the phone immediately with West-ward asking if they could drop-ship FedEx overnight to my pharmacy. At this point, if it's a cost issue for overnight shipping, I AM WILLING TO PAY. Joe quickly called me back saying it would ship today, i'd have it tomorrow.

We shall see.

West-ward vs. GPSI

I've learned through various phone calls that West-ward Pharm. has contracted with Generic Pharmacy Services, Inc. (GPSI) to provide gelatin banding for their Ephedrine sulfate product. It's frustrating because i'll talk to Melanie at West-ward and she'll PROMISE me it's GPSI's fault the product is backordered, and then i'll call GPSI and Mary Madagen will PROMISE me that the hold-up is with West-ward. Both of them talk about expired product, FDA and DEA regulations, quotas, etc...but I can't pin anyone down on who's desk the paperwork is held up on.

Well, anyway my wife left me two weeks ago. She moved to a house not far away, and needless to say i'm devestated. I guess I don't blame her, really- i've been struggling with my health for some time, and she must be as frustrated as I am. I love my wife and family, and i'm sad I don't have the strength or energy to be doing more work around the house. To be sure, my attitude has suffered as well and i'm not always the most cheerful person to be around.

In a state of total desperation, I called West-ward late last week and demanded to speak with the CEO, Nabil Rizk. I guess I couldn't believe it when his assistant, Karen, managed to get him on the phone this time (i've asked several times previously). I basically told him that my wife left, and that I didn't want to fall down the stairs or choke on my food and die alone.

Mr. Rizk was very sympathetic and even told me a story about how his dad died when he was young, and that he got into this business to help people, not make money. He promised me that they we're lighting all the fires they could, and that it should be this week when the Ephedrine is available again.

It looks like I'll be healthy again soon, I hope so.