A number of groups, hospitals, and doctors have issued warnings about shortages of amoxicillin, Tamiflu, albuterol, and other medications.
Amoxicillin is used to treat bacterial infections including strep throat, whooping cough, and some urinary tract infections; antiviral Tamiflu is one of the most common flu medications in the United States; and albuterol is an inhaler used for asthma. It comes in the midst of a reported spike in influenza and RSV among children across the United States in recent weeks.
All four drugs are in short supply, said the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) on its database.
“In my 25 years of being a pediatrician, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Minnesota-based pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Stacene Maroushe told CNN. “I have seen families who just aren’t getting a break. They have one viral illness after another. And now there’s the secondary effect of ear infections and pneumonia that are prompting amoxicillin shortages.”…