It’s a parent’s nightmare.
Their infants, teething toddlers and children are crying out in pain and they feel helpless. For months, moms and dads have been forced to watch as their infants and children suffer in pain because Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has failed to act on a national shortage of children’s pain medication.
Infant and children’s pain and fever medications can’t be found anywhere. Neither common brands such as Tylenol, Motrin and Advil, nor generic brands. It’s incredibly frustrating for parents. Urgent action is needed now.
Like so many issues with this federal government including passports, the airports mess and backlogs in every federal department, this is a problem unique to Canada. Other comparable nations like Australia and the United States have ample supply.
Parents either have to drive across the border to the United States where these medications are widely available, or to go to overcrowded emergency rooms to get basic treatment and medications for their infants and children. This makes no sense.
Take a drive around to pharmacies throughout Flamborough and the Hamilton — it’s even difficult to find adult pain medications.
This has been an issue since the beginning of summer. In fact, Health Canada publicly acknowledged the crisis in August and said they were working to resolve it.
The Liberal health minister also acknowledged the problem in early October when pressed by Conservative MPs. Now, almost two months later, the crisis continues.
On Nov. 2, the official Opposition called for an emergency debate in Parliament on this significant coast-to-coast issue, but an emergency debate was rejected by the government.
Our suggestion would have been then, and is now, to bring these medications in from other countries without delay. It has been done before with prescription medications and from the Canadian Pharmacists Association’s perspective, it wouldn’t be very difficult to do.
We’re listening to moms and dads. If the Trudeau government and its health minister won’t prioritize this national shortage, the official Opposition Conservatives will.
We will continue to remind the government, as we did again last week, of the realities Canadian families are facing and call for answers for overwhelmed parents that are deeply concerned as the coming RSV and flu season draws closer.
Every day of further delay is unacceptable.
