Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sounded alarm bells Sunday over the lack of children’s medicines on drugstore shelves — calling for the FDA to take action on the troubling shortage.
During a news conference in Manhattan, the New York Democrat said there are “spot shortages” of basic kids’ needs across the region, including Tylenol, Robitussin, and ibuprofen amid a tridemic of viruses around the country.
“It’s easier to get some of the hottest toys than get these things,” Schumer said a week before Christmas.
“Today, I am urging … the Federal Drug Administration to investigate the shortages and consider several actions to reduce those shortages,” Schumer said. “These shortages are temporary; they are supply chain shortages, but we need to alleviate them.”
He said the basic drugs are hard to find because three viruses – COVID, the flu and RSV – are hitting New York at the same time, and noted parents in NYC and on Long Island are having trouble getting what their kids need.
“The spot shortages are becoming serious problems for parents, caregivers, so we’re asking the FDA to investigate the problems locally and nationally and determine what official action they will take,” Schumer said.
Schumer’s office suggested the FDA could expedite importation approvals of foreign manufacturers and work closely with the industry to pinpoint basic chemical and material shortages that go into making the drugs while locating national and local chokepoints.
His office also said the FDA should investigate the licensing of new companies to make the drugs under strict safety conditions.
One Manhattan mother called the situation “scary,” comparing the search for the over-the-counter meds to a scavenger hunt.
Marisa Dan, who has a 10-month old daughter, said she’s looked in Target and CVS — and even called her parents on Long Island for help.
“I’ve looked online and it’s nowhere to be found,” she said during the press conference. “So I don’t know what I’ll do. You know, if I need Tylenol, I’ll have to ask friends to help out, I’d have to call the doctor’s office. It’s scary.”
She said the issue of providing the basics for her baby keeps happening, and that it’s adding to her growing frustration.
“We shouldn’t be going on a scavenger hunt just to meet the basic needs of our child, to find formula, to find children’s Tylenol. It shouldn’t be this hard,” Dan said.