AUSTIN, Texas — Caring for sick children has become extra stressful recently for many Central Texas parents due to shortages of children’s Tylenol and other medicines.
Doctors and other experts say the problem could persist through the cold-and-flu season, which ends in May, but a spike in other respiratory illnesses created a surge in demand for fever relievers and other products people can buy without a prescription.
Owner of Austin pharmacy Medsavers Pharmacy Chris Johnson said his store's shelves began to empty around September.
“It coincides with what we kind of call it the trifecta of problems we saw – respiratory problems in the United States," Johnson said. "RSV hit, COVID, of course, had another surge, and then we also had the flu.”
Johnson said his store has yet to limit customers from buying a certain amount of children's over-the-counter medication, but can see that happening in the future.
“[It's been] really hard to keep things like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, even liquid Zyrtec, liquid Benadryl, allergy-type medicines … really tough to keep them in stock," Johnson said.
CVS Health has placed a two-product limit on all children’s pain relief products bought through its pharmacies or online.
Walgreens is limiting customers online to six purchases of children’s fever reducing products. That limit doesn’t apply in stores.
Johnson said some wholesalers are only allowing pharmacies to purchase just one or two bottles a day of certain children's over-the-counter medicine for their stock. He added that, aside from over-the-counter products, the prescription antibiotic amoxicillin also is in short supply due to increased demand and has sometimes been unavailable at local pharmacies. The drug is often used to treat nose and throat infections in children.
Tarrytown Pharmacy, also local to Austin, echoes the same problems.
“We’ve been very busy but, luckily, we’ve been able to take care of all of our patients," said lead pharmacist Rannon Ching. "Just by either getting them an alternative or by trying to keep a list and letting them know when things are available.”
Ching said alternatives to certain children's medicines are something anyone can ask a pharmacist about and, in many cases, alternative options are available. He said it is important to use correct measurements and dosages when doing this; something a pharmacist can also assist with.
Comparing infant Tylenol to children's Tylenol, Ching said this is a good example of alternatives you can use.
“It’s the same product but it’s packaged and marketed differently," Johnson said.
Experts says some adult medication can be made into a child’s dose, as there are ways to cut it, split it or mix it – but parents should never determine the correct dosage on their own and should ask a doctor of pharmacist about what they are administering to their child.
Both Medsavers Pharmacy and Terrytown Pharmacy also have compounding labs, which means that, with a precription, the pharmacies can create medications for your child.
Johnson said this is something that happens, to some degree, every year during the winter months.
"This is a little more severe than what we typically go through, but this happens every year with multiple drug types," Johnson said.