Children’s pain relievers in short supply

With cold and flu season coming, simply picking some up on the way home ‘not an option now,’ parent says

When her young son, Gabriel, woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and in pain, Jenn Brown asked her partner to pick up medication on his way home from work.

But when the first place he went to didn’t have any, he and his coworkers began calling all the pharmacies they could think of.

“It was nothing, nothing, nothing,” Brown said in a telephone interview.

As is common for many new parents, she began thinking through a list of questions, wondering whether she was reading the thermometer right and worried her child’s fever would increase.

Finally, a store in Mount Pearl said they had three bottles, but they were not able to hold them for the couple.

“It’s wild. A lot of the parent groups that I’m a member of on Facebook … it’s this hot commodity where people are posting any time it’s available or spotted,” Brown said.

SUPPLY

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, there was a run on many products, such as hand sanitizer, masks and Tylenol, said Robert Doyle, a pharmacist and owner of Neighbourhood Pharmacy on Queen’s Road in St. John’s.

Some supply issues have settled down since then, but in the last three or four months, Doyle began noticing issues again with children’s Tylenol and Advil in all sizes and types for ages up to 12.

It was once normal to receive a full order. But now, there’s no guarantee. Doyle might order 12 and receive three from the supplier.

And with the approaching cold and flu season, there has been increased demand, and people are trying to stock up.

“What we can get, we try to keep one of each on the shelf and we have a note advising our patients and customers to check with one of our pharmacy staff, and if we have some availability behind the counter … we’re just trying to limit it to a reasonable amount that a family would need,” Doyle said.

“With social media nowadays, it’s just one minute and it’s out there, people are thinking, ‘I better go run to the pharmacy and get what I can now because it’ll probably be gone.’”

Doyle noted there have also been supply issues with prescription medications for blood pressure, anxiety and depression.

RATIONING

With children back in school, mandates lifted and many products in short supply, people don’t have the option to be choosey, even if their child can’t stomach a particular flavour.

“You could put it on the inside of the cheek, they won’t spit it out as much,” Doyle said.

They won’t taste it as much if it doesn’t go directly on their tongue, he added.

There are alternative solutions as well. A saline rinse, for instance, may help relieve a stuffy nose.

Brown has been cautious about how much she has on hand in case her 11-monthold son comes down with one of the many illnesses kids around that age are prone to get.

While being unable to manage pain from teething sometimes means little sleep for both baby and parent, Brown sometimes tries to distract Gabriel to see if it helps, so she knows she is using it at the optimal time.

It’s been working well, but rationing medication is new.

“Before, it would be like … if he’s sick or if he’s in pain, maybe I should pick some up on the way home, but that’s not an option now,” Brown said.

Parents have been responding in different ways, Brown has noticed.

“Some people are panicking … and the other side is like, listen, I’ve got some and I know how scary it is to have a baby get sick and not be able to help them out. That support system is pretty great,” Brown said.