Waterloo pharmacy offering up alternative during children's pain medication shortage

A Waterloo pharmacist is trying to fill the gap left by the persistent shortage of children’s flu and cold medications.

Phil Hudson, who is also the owner of Beechwood Wellness Pharmacy, is mixing up equivalent products as a temporary solution to the problem.

“We make them at the same strengths that the commercial product will be available at, but we would label them individually for each patient.”

The location is one of the few compounding pharmacies in Waterloo Region that create medications from scratch.

Hudson has been making liquid children’s pain reliever medication since store shelves went bare last month. He’s been getting as many as 20 inquiries a day.

“Many parents are desperate, and they’re desperate because they’ve been to four, five, six pharmacies and none of them have it,” Hudson said.

He warns that it’s not a long-term remedy for the nationwide drug shortage.

No prescription is needed and Hudson will continue to provide this option for families in need for as long as he can.

“When parents don’t know what to do they end up in [the emergency room],” said Kelly Grindrod, a professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy. “They end up at their doctor’s [office] asking for advice and the system doesn’t have capacity.”

She said it’s unclear when we could see children’s medications back in stock and that could be challenging for parents as COVID-19, influenza and RSV circulate in the community.

“This is going to be a difficult viral season for a lot of kids. A lot of things like mask mandates have been dropped and a lot of viruses are spreading through schools, daycares, etc.”

Grindrod is hoping for a more reliable drug supply.

“Really what we’re seeing is just how incredibly important this is for Canadian guardians and parents, and we need to be able to ensure we have access to them.”