Parents concerned over children's medication shortages
MIRAMAR - A nationwide shortage of cold and flu medications has many parents locally wondering what to do.
CBS4 spoke with a doctor, and a mom about what can be done to prepare.
"This is Deion he's 1," Kiana Powell told us.
She's the proud mom of two young boys.
"If one gets sick, the second one gets sick, and then ultimately the parents," she said.
And she doesn't have time to get sick, as she also has a company to run, Forward Public Relations.
"When I read that article that the mother had to go to 14 different convenience stores to just go find the medicine and she was just sitting in her car while her child was sick in the backseat, I was like whoa," Powell.
Everything is currently low quantities if not out, even the commonly prescribed antibiotic, amoxicillin.
"We feel a little uncomfortable that we may not be able to treat our patients like we normally do we write amoxicillin as pediatricians very often, for infections, it's first line," Dr. Michelle Kirwan explained.
Dr. Kirwan is the chief medical officer at The Center for Family & Child Enrichment, she wants parents to be aware, but not to panic.
"There are other antibiotics that we can use," she said.
In fact, she says, you can treat a fever without medicine.
"Giving a patient or a child a tepid bath not cold no ice."
But she warns against dosing down or using adult prescription for kids, unless directed by a doctor.
At University Pharmacy in Coral Gables, they're working behind the counter to get more supply in.
"We don't have Tylenol, OTC counter is half empty," Harni Patel, Co-Owner and pharmacist said.
It's a problem many pharmacies are experiencing.
"Wholesalers don't have it, so it's very hard to get those medications right now, even from secondary wholesalers, they don't have it."
There's no telling when it'll come back in stock, but they are checking around the clock. Patel says some doctors are already switching prescriptions to other medicines that are more easily available.
Back in Miramar, Powell is keeping the shortage in mind, and doing her best to cold germs away from her boys.
"I am very mindful, very mindful of where I take them making sure they're very comfortable with their mask, they do wear their mask."
In a way, Powell says, it's a bit of a flashback to the early part of the pandemic, but those habits helped keep her family healthy.
