Dealing with a sick child is never easy for parents, but it’s made even harder when they can’t access the drugs they need. Fortunately, according to executive president of patient care at Kingston Health Science Centre Jason Hann, relief is on the way.
“Health Canada approved that pharmacies can now compound, which is great, so they can make (the medication) into a suspension of liquid, for the child to take.”
Not all pharmacies can do this, however, according to Katherine Houston, a pharmacist at Medical Arts Pharmacy.
“If they get a prescription or if they want to pay for it over the counter, they’re able to obtain it from compounding pharmacies.”
She added that depending on your child’s weight, you might not need the medicine compounded at all.
“When they get to higher weights, up to about 100 pounds, they can potentially take a full adult tablet and if they can’t swallow it, we can advise them to crush it and add it to food.”
She does, however, recommend parents discuss all of this with a professional before coming to a decision.
“It’s best that they call a pharmacist and basically have this discussion with us and we can let them know what’s best for them.”
All of this should come as a relief to Canadians, who have found the recent unavailability of children’s medicine to be a tough pill to swallow.