Edmonton pharmacies seeing shortage of adult cough and cold medication

Weeks after the shortage of children’s pain and fever medication was making headlines across Canada, an Edmonton pharmacist is warning of a worsening shortage of cold medication for adults.

Mahmoud Sarhan is pharmacy manager at Landsdowne Pharmacy. He said he’s never seen a shortage of adult meds like this.

“It started with the kids mainly, that’s the main concern, and then after a while, after a few weeks, it started to be with the adult one as well,” he said.

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Sarhan said the issue has persisted since fall and he is limited to buying three packages of medication per day.

“At one point it started to be available again, but because of the restrictions on the ordering amount, it started to be shortened again.”

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Sarhan said the medication itself is not the only reason for the shortage.

“It’s not just a medication, it’s about the packaging, the printing of the packaging, having short supply of bottles… lots of factors may cause a shortage of the products,” he said.

William Cheung is a pharmacist at Gateway Pharmacy.

“I’ve been a pharmacist for 27 years and I’ve never seen it that ridiculous,” he said.

He said he hasn’t been able to get cough and cold medicine for two to three months.

“Even if we were able to get some, the amount is really small,” he said.

Cheung said it can be challenging to find the right substitute for his patients.

“For cough and cold, we really don’t have a good suggestion. We can recommend some alternatives but in general they have more side effects, like drowsiness,” he said.

For now, Sarhan is recommending his customers look around at other pharmacies and stores for the product they need before he will consider compounding a medication for them.

He said despite assurances from levels of government that more meds are on the way, he hasn’t seen the impacts of these orders.

“It’s frustrating for everyone, but it’s a situation we have to deal with. We’re trying to help as much as we can, give alternatives, compounds if needed for patients, just to help out,” he said.

A provincial spokesperson said Alberta Health and AHS is monitoring Alberta’s medication supply numbers. She said issues with the supply chain and higher demand can cause occasional shortages in some medicines.

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