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Walgreens, CVS limit sales of children’s pain relief medications amid ‘tripledemic’

Restrictions apply to purchases online and at pharmacies

A sign is placed near the section for children's medicine, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022 at a CVS in Greenlawn, N.Y. Caring for a sick child has become even more stressful than usual for many U.S. parents in recent weeks due to shortages of Childrens Tylenol and other medicines. (AP Photo/Leon Keith) (Leon Keith)

CVS and Walgreens are limiting how many children’s pain relief medications people can buy at once amid the “tripledemic” of respiratory viruses, according to reports.

CVS said it is limiting the number of pain relief medications to two. Walgreens customers can buy six over-the-counter pediatric fever reducers, according to the report.

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NBC cited the following statement from Walgreens, “due to increased demand and various supplier challenges, over-the-counter pediatric fever reducing products are seeing constraint across the country.”

The restriction applies to medications purchased online or at pharmacies.

Read: Is it RSV, a cold, the flu or COVID? What to know about the differences between illnesses

According to the Associated Press, an unusually fast start to the flu season and a spike in other respiratory illnesses created a surge in demand for fever relievers and other over-the-counter medicines.

“There are more sick kids at this time of year than we have seen in the past couple years,” Dr. Shannon Dillon, a pediatrician at Riley Children’s Health in Indianapolis, told the AP.

Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson said it is not experiencing widespread shortages of Children’s Tylenol, but it may be “less readily available” at some locations.

Read more: Children’s medicine shortage hits as flu season starts fast


About the Author
Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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