Supply of children's chewable medicine dwindling in Quebec, along with liquid Tylenol
The Quebec Order of Pharmacists is urging parents to resist the temptation to hoard certain hard-to-find children's medicines should they happen upon a well-stocked store.
Liquid suspensions of acetaminophen and ibuprofen for children remain in short supply in many pharmacies across the province and in the rest of the country, after several months.
On Tuesday, a Quebec manufacturer of generic and store-brand drugs, Laboratoire Riva, also reported a shortage of its chewable acetaminophen tablets.
But the order's president Bertrand Bolduc said stockpiling is not the answer and can even pose a risk to children who find it in the home.
"We don't advise to stockpile because acetaminophen is one of the most dangerous products for intoxication of kids, especially because it's flavoured," Bolduc said, adding that every year there are pediatric emergency room visits for suspected cases of poisoning.
He suggests parents ask their pharmacist for an alternative to the formats or concentrations they're used to giving their kids when they're in pain or have a fever, whether they're acetaminophen products known by the trade name Tylenol, or ibuprofen, contained in Advil products.
In addition, parents can turn to generic or house brands instead, although Bolduc conceded that stock of those products is also diminishing.
But there are solutions.
"Sometimes we're going to use a very similar product like pediatric oral drops that are used for newborns and that we can use for a little bit older kids," Bolduc said. "And if we have a teenager or someone who's able to swallow, we can use chewable tablets, possibly adult tablets they can cut and take with food, like peanut butter," he suggested.
In a pinch, it's also possible for pharmacists to compound the product, which means preparing it themselves by mixing the active ingredient with liquid suspension material.
"They can order the ingredients, and it's very easy to do. Every pharmacist has the ability to do that," he explained.
The shortages are being blamed in part on global supply chain issues, but drug manufacturers are doing what they can "to catch up," according to Justin Bates, the CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association.
"The raw materials, sourcing, and putting all this together has caused challenges with respect to keeping and maintaining the supply of these products," Bates said. "And on top of that, we have unprecedented demand due to both cold and flu as well as fever and pain that we haven't normally seen at this time of year."
Bolduc agreed that the situation is highly unusual.
"Usually, when we have a drug shortage, we have a manufacturing plant that has a problem, there's been a flood, a fire," he said, "but this time it's likely due to unavoidable poor planning brought on by the pandemic."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.