SANFORD, N.C. – Slow-moving mail has threatened a U.S. Marine Corps veteran's health. 

Bill Rowan says for the past 10 years he has ordered his diabetes medicine through Veterans Affairs online. It typically takes a week to come in, but his last order did not show up on time.

"So, I go on tracking and it still says 'at the post office,' and I started checking every day because now I'm out of the med," Rowan says.

He says his blood sugar crawled higher each day, eventually getting to catastrophic levels.

There was not much he could do until his medicine finally arrived 17 days after he ordered.

"It was very disturbing to learn that the executive branch and the postmaster general had willfully slowed down the mail," Rowan says.

A week ago, President Donald Trump criticized the U.S. Postal Service for needing more money for mail-in voting. He was asked on Monday if he asked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to purposely slow down the mail.

President Trump said no.

"I have encouraged everybody – speed up the mail, not slow the mail," Trump said. "But, I also want to have a post office that runs without losing billions and billions of dollars a year."

DeJoy released a statement saying he is suspending USPS initiatives until after the election to avoid the appearance of any impact on election mail. DeJoy assures retail hours will not change, mail equipment will not be moved, no mail processing facilities will be closed, and overtime will continue as needed.

Nonetheless, Rowan says his mail was significantly delayed. He is ordering medicine three times earlier than before to be better prepared in the future.

"There must be hundreds of thousands of veterans like me who rely on getting their medications on time, so let's not mess with it," Rowan says.