Children’s fever and pain relief medication still in short supply

Shortages of children’s fever and pain relief medications are causing concerns across the province.

Stephanie Yeboah, a pharmacist at Nanogram Pharmacy in Saskatoon, is well aware as she sees concerned parents in the store regularly.

Yeboah said she has had tired parents with sick kids in the store and phone calls wondering if the store has medicine in stock.

“(There’s) definitely a little bit of stress for parents who can’t provide pain relief or you’re looking through your medicine cabinet (and it) suddenly runs dry. Yes, we are seeing that,” said Yeboah.

Acetaminophen and ibuprofen in liquid or chewable tablets, specifically for kids, are in high demand and hard to get right now.

“It is starting to trickle in, but very slowly and sporadically,” said Yeboah.

Yeboah said her colleagues are experiencing the same shortage problems. High demand and supply-chain issues are causing the shortages. Medication for other respiratory illnesses also are in short supply.

“With the cough and cold medications, there is a shorter supply than we typically see around this time of the year. The liquids are hard to get ahold of; even the cough and cold tablets (are),” said Yeboah.

Yeboah’s suggestions are to check local pharmacies or ask for compounded medication. Compounded medication can only be done at a select few pharmacies. It is a specialized prescription from a pharmacist, who takes from a larger bulk supply.

“Each bottle (of compounded medication) that we sell, we don’t put it out onto the shelves; it’s individualized to that particular patient,” said Yeboah. “It comes with a set of instructions (and) proper labelling and it gets put onto their provincial prescription record as well.”

Pharmacists are allowed to temporarily prescribe compounded medication to children because of shortages.