HALIFAX — Canada’s pharmacy shortage is now spreading beyond the pain and fever drug aisle for children to other prescription and over-the-counter medications as source disorders worsen across the country.
Hundreds of medications are out of stock or out of stock, and some store shelves are running out of childhood allergy medications, cough syrup and adult blood, eye drops and even some oral antibiotics, experts say.
Sign up for news from the Edmonton Journal, a department of Postmedia Network Inc.
A welcome email is on the way. If you do not see it, please check your spam folder.
The next factor from Edmonton Journal Headline News will soon be in your inbox.
We found a challenge in your registration. Revisit
The scenario is forcing pharmacists to scramble to find opportunities, while many Canadians are placed in walk-in fitness clinics or wait hours in emergency rooms for situations they would deal with at home.
“This keeps getting worse,” Pam Kennedy, a pharmacist and owner of Bridgewater Guardian Pharmacy on Nova Scotia’s south shore, said Tuesday.
“Pharmacy groups are struggling to verify to locate other functions for patients, but it’s getting harder and harder. “
Nearly a third of prescriptions are now out of stock, he said.
Some drug brands have indicated that shortages are expected to last until early 2023, Kennedy added.
“I don’t think there’s been a Buckley liquid for months,” he said of a popular cough syrup logo. “The shortage of coughs and colds has been problematic. “
Canada’s drug shortages began last spring. But source shortages have been exacerbated in recent months due to growing demand amid the spread of influenza, RSV and COVID-19. Persistent disruptions in the pandemic’s origin chain have also contributed to the problem.
Health Canada officials were criticized at a House of Commons fitness committee on Tuesday for failing to handle the scenario more temporarily or effectively.
“The last time I saw those products on my network shelves was in May,” Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MLA Laila Goodridge told the committee, referring to pediatric painkillers.
“It’s terrifying for a network hours away from a children’s hospital. “
Lately, as many as 800 are missing in Canada, Linsey Hollett, Health Canada’s director of fitness product compliance, told the committee.
Of those, 23 are critical, meaning the shortage poses a significant threat to patients and the fitness system, he said.
For the source of acetaminophen and ibuprofen products for children, Health Canada has arranged to import them from the United States and Australia.
Meanwhile, pharmacies like Bridgewater Guardian Pharmacy have had to impose limits on the number of Tylenol, Advil or Motrin children’s boxes consumers can buy, Kennedy said.
“I’ve noticed grandmothers coming and if they can find a bottle, they send it to their children in Alberta to their grandchildren,” she said.
Canadians approach the border with the United States as well to acquire medicines, many of which are fully stocked.
“In New Brunswick, other people cross the border into the U. S. “They put him back in the U. S. and they bring him back to Canada,” Kennedy said.
Meanwhile, the shortage of sources is also having a ripple effect across the supply chain, as the drugs used to update key medicines are now also running out.
For example, powders used for makeup such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen are now scarce, he said.
— With Mia Rabson in Ottawa
The Canadian Press report first published on November 15, 2022.
365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, ON M4W 3L4
© 2022 Edmonton Journal, a department of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Dissemination, unauthorized transmission or is strictly prohibited.
This uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads) and allows us to analyze our traffic. Learn more about cookies here. By continuing to use ourArray, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.