Mail delays puts those in need of prescriptions by delivery at risk

Mail being delayed can mean you might not get your package on time. There are extreme delays in Southwest Florida because several machines were removed from a local plant. For some community members, this could mean a matter of life and death.

We learned why some veterans are saying their packages could mean life or death Monday.

“These are the two refrigerated ones here, and these are the other two bottles that come from the VA,” said veteran Steve Crump, who has diabetes.

Crump, a retired marine and police officer in Cape Coral, can’t live without his medications. He receives them all through mail.

“This I have to have every single day, and this I take once a week,” Crump said.

That’s how dependent diabetics are to medication.

“To me, I want to keep everything I’ve got,” Crump said. “My sight is very important to me. Keeping my blood sugar under control, it’s probably the most important thing.”

Crump says none of his prescriptions have come through the mail recently.

“All three days, nothing showed up,” Crump said. “It’s very important that they get here, they get here on time, not just for myself but for the other veterans and people that depend on that as well.”

Crump is not the only one. The U.S. Postal Service admits cost cutting measures caused delays, and many mail sorting machines cannot be put back in service.

That included the mail sorting machine we showed you on the way to the dumpster recently.

Crump updated us and said he expects his mail delivery for prescriptions by 8 p.m.

Still, Crump worries how many other people, other veterans, are out there, at risk and waiting on life-saving prescriptions.

“People are getting life-altering, life-saving things that come through the mail, not just myself,” Crump said. “And we depend on it, and we depend on it being on time.”