Miami (AFP) - The phone rings off the hook these days at some pharmacies in Florida and the calls are long-distance: from Venezuelans desperate for everything from diapers to cancer medication.
Venezuela, though sitting atop the world's largest proven oil reserves, is enduring an acute economic crisis due in part to the global drop in crude prices and just about everything is in short supply, including medicine.
So people are phoning in prescriptions to a handful of pharmacies in south Florida that are willing to help, although a shortage of dollars in Venezuela means most of the orders cannot be filled: Venezuelans cannot pay for the medicine with local currency, just greenbacks, which they do not have.
Still, the pharmacies are doing what they can .... http://finance.yahoo.com
