Mail-Order Drugs Facing Significant Delays, Democratic Senators Say

(Bloomberg) -- Mail-order prescription drug deliveries have encountered “significant delays” after U.S. Postal Service changes put in place by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, two senators said.

The delays stretched delivery times to 3 to 4 days, from 2 to 3 days, pharmacies and benefit managers reported, according to a Sept. 9 letter and report from Senators Robert Casey of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

“These delays are unacceptable outcomes under any circumstances, but are made even worse by the ongoing pandemic, which has increased demand for mail-order drugs,” the two Democrats said in their letter to members of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, which oversees DeJoy.

The lawmakers called on the board of governors to address the delay in drug delivery, and to reverse changes that degrade postal operations under DeJoy, who took up his post in June.

DeJoy was a major fundraiser for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. He has been under criticism from Democrats for management changes that caused mail delays in recent months, just ahead of the November election, which will rely heavily on the use of mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dave Partenheimer, a Postal Service spokesman, said the agency “is committed to fulfilling our obligations to provide consistent and reliable delivery service, which includes the sacred duty of delivering medications to the American public.”

The Postal Service has been been “impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, which has resulted in certain service disruptions,” Partenheimer said in an email. He said service is improving after more hiring and changes to processing methods.

The senators’ concerns were reported earlier Wednesday by the Washington Post.

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