Children S Tylenol Advil Liquid And Chewable In Significant Shortage In Ontario

“We’re at a point where there aren’t really any of these liquid or chewable options available for purchase at pharmacies, which puts it in a pretty significant shortage,” Jen Belcher, vice-president of strategic initiatives and member relations for the Ontario Pharmacists Association ( OPA), he told CTV News Toronto.
About a month ago, the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children began warning parents that some pharmacies were experiencing supply shortages of liquid Tylenol and Advil.
However, they had larger bottles of the drug available behind the counter and asked parents to get prescriptions so that pharmacists could redistribute the drug into smaller bottles.
But since then, the supply has been depleted further.  In addition to liquid Tylenol and Advil, it is now expanding into chewable products, Belcher said.
There is also a shortage of the larger bottles that pharmacies relied on to redistribute the supply about a month ago.
“Right now, as a pharmacist, I can’t even buy those bigger bottles that we used to keep behind the counter.  So really, what’s in the field right now is what’s available,” Belcher said.
“We are in discussions with some manufacturers and the message we have received is that production is proceeding at the various facilities and has not been interrupted, but due to the large increase in demand, we are seeing this shortage.”  he said.
At this time, SickKids told CTV News Toronto that they are able to “maintain sufficient supply” as they continue to “closely monitor the situation.”

Intermediate solution 
Belcher said she hopes to see a return to normal supply levels by mid-to-late fall.
Meanwhile, the OPA is recommending that pharmacists sell only one or two bottles of the drug at a time to prevent stockpiling.
At some pharmacies, Belcher said they create their own version of children’s Tylenol and Advil by mixing raw ingredients at home to make a similar product.
Another option is to cut the adult oral tablets into smaller doses.  Belcher said two- or three-year-olds weighing 24 to 35 pounds can take half of an adult tablet, and infants a quarter.
Although she acknowledged that swallowing a tablet can be a challenge for younger children, there is also an option to crush the medicine and mix it into applesauce or chocolate syrup.
“I have a toddler who just started kindergarten and the number of runny noses and fevers I think even within his classrooms in the last two weeks, it’s an unfortunate time for those ingredients to be in short supply,” Belcher said. 

title: “Children S Tylenol Advil Liquid And Chewable In Significant Shortage In Ontario " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-01” author: “Thomas Kane”

“We’re at a point where there aren’t really any of these liquid or chewable options available for purchase at pharmacies, which puts it in a pretty significant shortage,” Jen Belcher, vice-president of strategic initiatives and member relations for the Ontario Pharmacists Association ( OPA), he told CTV News Toronto.
About a month ago, the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children began warning parents that some pharmacies were experiencing supply shortages of liquid Tylenol and Advil.
However, they had larger bottles of the drug available behind the counter and asked parents to get prescriptions so that pharmacists could redistribute the drug into smaller bottles.
But since then, the supply has been depleted further.  In addition to liquid Tylenol and Advil, it is now expanding into chewable products, Belcher said.
There is also a shortage of the larger bottles that pharmacies relied on to redistribute the supply about a month ago.
“Right now, as a pharmacist, I can’t even buy those bigger bottles that we used to keep behind the counter.  So really, what’s in the field right now is what’s available,” Belcher said.
“We are in discussions with some manufacturers and the message we have received is that production is proceeding at the various facilities and has not been interrupted, but due to the large increase in demand, we are seeing this shortage.”  he said.
At this time, SickKids told CTV News Toronto that they are able to “maintain sufficient supply” as they continue to “closely monitor the situation.”

Intermediate solution 
Belcher said she hopes to see a return to normal supply levels by mid-to-late fall.
Meanwhile, the OPA is recommending that pharmacists sell only one or two bottles of the drug at a time to prevent stockpiling.
At some pharmacies, Belcher said they create their own version of children’s Tylenol and Advil by mixing raw ingredients at home to make a similar product.
Another option is to cut the adult oral tablets into smaller doses.  Belcher said two- or three-year-olds weighing 24 to 35 pounds can take half of an adult tablet, and infants a quarter.
Although she acknowledged that swallowing a tablet can be a challenge for younger children, there is also an option to crush the medicine and mix it into applesauce or chocolate syrup.
“I have a toddler who just started kindergarten and the number of runny noses and fevers I think even within his classrooms in the last two weeks, it’s an unfortunate time for those ingredients to be in short supply,” Belcher said.