Shortages in flu medicine seen at pharmacies amid spike in cases

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Sniffling and sneezing more in the winter is common, but recently, some doctors have seen more patients than usual reporting respiratory illness.

“Louisiana is ranking very high in our flu cases compared to a lot of the other states, so we’re seeing a lot of it right now compared to the rest of the country,” said Dr. Matt Bumgardner.

And that means more patients going to places like Baton Rouge General’s Urgent Care.

“We’ve been very busy seeing a lot of patients. Fortunately, the hospitalization rates are staying low, but that always could change,” added Bumgardner.

And once patients get a remedy, they may have a hard time finding medicine.

“Naturally, this is our normally busiest time of year with cold and flu, but this season has been the worst,” said Orlando Palmer, owner of Parker’s Pharmacy.

Palmer said he’s having a hard time keeping flu medicine in stock.

“Tamiflu, amoxicillin, some of the prescriptions for kids we’re seeing, so to give you an example, there are times where typically before October we were able, if I wanted to order 100 bottles of Tamiflu, no problem. Now, it’s restricted because of shortages, and I maybe could only get a handful here and there or some not even available that week so, just be patient,” explained Palmer.

Palmer said pharmacists are working hard to get you medication to help you feel better.

“Understand that it is supply chain issues going on nationally and what it means by now is your regular neighborhood pharmacy might not have it, so it might be a situation where you must visit multiple pharmacies to see if they have that medication in stock. They can call ahead to just see to save you some time, but it’s going to be one of those frustrating situations until you’re able to find a location that has it,” noted Palmer.

And don’t look for a quick cure. Palmer said shortages could last until spring 2023.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved.