Pharmacies to limit purchases of children’s pain and fever medications
Abigail Adcox
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Some drug store chains are limiting purchases of children’s pain relief and fever-reducing medications as the products remain in short supply across the country due to a continued surge in respiratory viruses, including the flu and respiratory syntactical virus, or RSV, along with COVID-19 cases.
CVS is only allowing customers to buy two products each of pediatric pain relief medications for in-person and online purchases, while Walgreens has placed a six-item limit for pediatric fever-reducing products for online transactions.
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Pharmacists are attributing the supply crunch to demand fueled by the trio of illnesses circulating at the same time and are cautioning consumers against stockpiling medications, which could exacerbate supply shortages further.
“Retailers nationwide are experiencing supplier fulfillment challenges due to increased demand of over-the-counter pediatric fever reducing products. While Walgreens continues to have products to support our customers and patients, we have put into effect an online only purchase limit of 6 per online transaction to prevent excess purchasing behavior,” Walgreens said in a statement.
Target has also placed a two-product limit on children’s pain relief medications for online purchases, according to CBS News. Meanwhile, Walmart does not have any purchase limits on pediatric medications at this time.
Supply issues are being seen for a number of common cold and flu medications, including children’s Tylenol, Motrin, and Advil.
Despite some products being in short supply, Johnson & Johnson, which makes children’s Tylenol and Motrin, told the Washington Examiner that it is not experiencing a nationwide shortage.
“While products may be less readily available at some stores, we are not experiencing widespread shortages of Children’s TYLENOL® or Children’s MOTRIN®. We recognize this may be challenging for parents and caregivers, and are doing everything we can to make sure people have access to the products they need, including maximizing our production capacity, running our sites 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health said in a statement.
Drug shortages aren’t isolated to just pediatric products. The Biden administration made additional doses of Tamiflu, a prescription medication used to treat and prevent the flu, available to states through the Strategic National Stockpile earlier this month as flu cases remain high in many parts of the country.
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The increase in respiratory illnesses has been putting a strain on the entire healthcare system. Children’s hospitals have continued to manage higher-than-average volumes of flu and RSV cases, with capacity staying at or near full at some facilities in recent weeks.
Some relief may be on the horizon for supply issues after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that RSV and flu cases are declining in parts of the country.