Children’s medicine shortage evident on Manitoba pharmacy shelves

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This article was published 22/08/2022 (1196 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A nationwide shortage of children’s medicine has made its way to Manitoba pharmacies.

The difficulty finding cough and cold medicines, including acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil), is caused by a high demand for products and supply chain issues.

“We sold our last Children’s Tylenol this morning,” pharmacist Hillary Blahitka said. “It was just the chewable tablets, but we’ve had lots of people coming in asking for the liquid for their kids that we can’t seem to get our hands on.”

Blahitka said the stock at Patient Advocate Pharmacy in Rivergrove has been dismal of late.

“There’s been a huge influx lately of people getting sick and COVID, as well. More sick kids means more Tylenol purchasing and it’s been flying off the shelves.”

While the supply chain issues are being sorted out, it may be a while until the pharmacy’s supply is restocked.

“The ordering system we have was saying it would return at the end of the month, but a lot of times, those dates get pushed back farther and farther. It’s pretty rough for parents of sick kids right now,” Blahitka said.

She hopes customers won’t be panic-buying when it’s back on the shelves.

“I wouldn’t want to be selling three or four to one person because that creates the issue, as well. If you can limit yourself to one or two like you would normally buy, that’s just going to leave some on the shelf for someone else who also has sick kids.”

Tim Smith of Pharmacists Manitoba said the situation has existed for some time.

“Presumably, it will sort itself over time. This is nothing new, although it doesn’t always reach public awareness. It’s something we often deal with in the background,” he said. “While it can be concerning to parents and caregivers to go to the pharmacy and not find the medication that they’re looking for, there usually are alternative solutions available. The best option is to talk to the pharmacist and see how we can help you.”

bryce.hunt@freepress.mb.ca