Pharmacy store chains CVS and Walgreens announced Monday a product restriction on children’s pain medications due to an increase in demand for the products.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association said Monday sales for children’s pain relievers are up 65% from this time of year in 2021.
The increase in demand comes following a rise in cases of the flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children. The main medications recommended for these sicknesses are Ibuprofen or Aspirin to reduce fever and body aches.
Because of the rise in illnesses, stores have seen shortages of medications.
“There are more sick kids at this time of year than we have seen in the past couple years,” Dr. Shannon Dillon, a pediatrician at Riley Children’s Health in Indianapolis, told the Associated Press on Monday.
In new statements, both CVS and Walgreens explained that their new policies regarding medications are necessary so more customers can purchase products as needed.
“Due to increased demand and various supplier challenges, over-the-counter pediatric fever reducing products are seeing constraint across the country,” the statement from Walgreens read. “In an effort to help support availability and avoid excess purchases, we put into effect an online only purchase limit of six per online transaction for all over-the-counter pediatric fever reducers.”
CVS, meanwhile, is limiting purchases both online and in stores to two per person.
“We can confirm that to ensure equitable access for all our customers, there is currently a two (2) product limit on all children’s pain relief products. We’re committed to meeting our customers’ needs and are working with our suppliers to ensure continued access to these items,” a CVS spokesperson said in the company’s own statement.
