‘It’s a Canada problem’: Cold and flu medication shortage outlines supply system flaws

``I think this is a bit of a wake-up call,'' said Joelle Walker, vice-president of public and professional affairs at the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Around Christmastime, Wendle Beaton was trying to find cold medication for her adult son in Brampton, Ont.

“In my neighbourhood there’s like 20 (pharmacies) within like a two-kilometre radius because I live in the most populous part of the city,” Beaton said.

The 55-year-old artist went to three stores before finding something. Even then, “they were out of a whole bunch of stuff.”

Now, visiting family in Smiths Falls, Ont., the same thing happened again when her 23-year-old niece needed medication _ except this time, they had to drive more than half an hour to Brockville, Ont., to find it.

“It’s not a city problem. It’s not a rural problem. It’s a Canada problem,” Beaton said.

That’s true, pharmacists say, and the bare shelves suggest there are vulnerabilities in Canada’s drug supply system. People across the country are struggling to find adult cold, cough and flu medications, right on the heels of a children’s fever and pain medication shortage that still hasn’t been fully resolved.

“I think this is a bit of a wake-up call,” said Joelle Walker, vice-president of public and professional affairs at the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

In December, the association informally polled pharmacists across Canada and found there was “still some strain” on the supply of pediatric pain and fever drugs, even after the federal government imported more to help ease the shortage.