US drug shortages might get worse in coming months because of China’s health crisis

New Delhi: The drug shortage in the US could get worse due to the Covid crisis now roiling China, one of the biggest US suppliers of generic drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients.

A report in the South China Morning Post said, “According to the US Food and Drug Administration, some 120 treatments – including albuterol inhalers, morphine, lidocaine anaesthetics, chemotherapy drug fludarabine, even adderall, used by patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, are currently in short supply.”

Reports suggest the shortages are down from December, they are still close to the 2020 level.

New Delhi: Meanwhile, an unusually fast start to the annual U.S. flu season, plus a spike in other respiratory illnesses, created a surge in demand for fever relievers and other products people can buy without a prescription.

“There are more sick kids at this time of year than we have seen in the past couple years,” said Dr. Shannon Dillon, a pediatrician at Riley Children’s Health in Indianapolis.

Experts say that’s the main factor behind the shortages, which vary around the country and even within communities.

“At this point, it’s more like toilet paper at the beginning of the (COVID-19) pandemic,” Dillon said “You just have to look in the right place at the right time.”

Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson says it is not experiencing widespread shortages of Children’s Tylenol, but the product may be “less readily available” at some stores. The company said it is running its production lines around the clock.

In the meantime, 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 over-the-counter fever reducing products. That limit doesn’t apply in stores.

Aside from over-the-counter products, the prescription antibiotic amoxicillin was also in short supply in December due to increased demand, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The drug is often used to treat nose and throat infections in children.

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