1M units of pain meds return to shelves, 500K more on the way

One million units of imported children’s pain medication are starting to appear on pharmacy shelves since Health Canada’s announcement last week.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says an additional 500,000 units have been ordered and are expected to arrive in the next few weeks.

He says pharmacies have received children’s pain medications, but it might take an additional day or so for other retail stores to receive the units.

READ MORE: 1M bottles of kids’ pain meds expected to hit shelves next week

Parents found it difficult to manage their children’s fever and pain as rates of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza increased during a shortage of pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

Production rates for the medications in Canada are increasing to meet the demand, and 1.1 million units of children’s Advil products were made by Haleon this month alone said Duclos.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association confirmed that shipments have started to arrive and it expects pain medications to be displayed on store shelves over the next few days and into next week.