Despite shortages, children's pain medication can still be found on Milwaukee shelves
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Despite empty shelves that have sent many families scrambling, pharmacists and doctors are urging people not to panic over shortages of children's pain medication.
Production of the medication has remained consistent, but demand has skyrocketed because of the current triple-demic of viruses.
Many of the big chain pharmacies are limiting how many bottles of children's pain medication you can buy, but not at Hayat Pharmacy for now. But Tylenol, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and Motrin are all in shorter supply, forcing pharmacists to shop around just like consumers.
Hayat Pharmacy CEO Hashim Zaibak showed us the website of one of the wholesale sellers. He said, "This is how many they have in stock. Look at all these zeroes."
Zaibak checks the sites every few hours, hoping to find elusive children's pain medications. He said, "They just received this manufacture of ibuprofen. So, I just placed an order."
The wholesalers often limit what he can order: sometimes he can only get one unit, sometimes three or five are available. But it's always enough to keep Hayat's shelves stocked.
That's a relief for families that cannot find the medication elsewhere and might be considering an ER visit as a last resort.
"They say, for example, 'my child had a fever, and I did not want to take my child to the emergency room just for a fever, but now that I have the acetaminophen or the ibuprofen, I can take care of them at home,'" Zaibak said.
The triple-demic -Covid, the flu, and RSV- is pushing demand for fever-reducing medications higher than usual. In response, Walgreens, CVS, and Pick 'N Save are all limiting how many products you can buy at one time.
Dr. Jeffrey Pothof of UW Health said, "The manufacturers have responded, and production is increasing, and has been a little higher lately, but still not enough to account for the demand."
Dr. Pothof said a high temperature associated with a fever is not dangerous in and of itself, and children can be cooled in other ways if medication is unavailable.
He said children should not be given aspirin as an alternative, and adults should not play pharmacist at home. "Don't try to cut up pills in a way where you think you're dosing them. That can be dangerous. It's easy to overdose your child."
If you do find the medication, health experts say there's little advantage to hoarding bottles since children typically only need a fraction of a bottle to treat each fever.
Dr. Zaibak said of the three viruses in the triple-demic, two of them have immunizations (Covid and the flu). So, he's urging flu and Covid vaccinations for children who are eligible.