U.S. health and drugs agencies say ready for Y2K

                     December 16, 1999 
                     Web posted at: 10:19 AM EST (1519 GMT) 

                     WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S.
                     Health and Human Services (HHS)
                     department said Wednesday all of its
                     computers were ready to meet the Year 2000
                     technology challenge and should not crash
                     when the date turns from 1999 to 2000. 

                     And the Food and Drug Administration
                     (FDA), which comes under HHS auspices,
                     said it has seen no signs that patients had
                     been hoarding drugs, which might disrupt
                     supplies. 

                     The HHS said in a statement "that all 1,174 of its computer data systems have been
                     certified Y2K compliant," and it would keep checking programs and services over the
                     New Year's weekend, just to make sure. 

                     "Programs which are run by states, local governments and other organizations, with HHS
                     funding participation, are expected to operate without serious incident," the statement
                     said. 

                     There have been fears that people who fear a Y2K glitch would start hoarding drugs and
                     disrupt supplies, but HHS said there has been no sign of this. 

                     "FDA, working with a special Y2K alliance of pharmaceutical manufacturers and
                     suppliers, reports that drug supplies have remained above normal," it said. "FDA has also
                     determined that the vast majority of medical devices do not use computers and are not
                     significantly affected by Y2K computer issues." 

                     Extra staff would keep other FDA programs running smoothly. 

                     The Y2K glitch stems from the widespread use of just two digits to represent the year in
                     computer files. Unless older systems have been reprogrammed, they may confuse 2000
                     with 1900 and shut down or corrupt data. 

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