Alberta procures 5 million bottles of children’s medicines

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Health Minister Jason Copping on Tuesday announced that the province obtained 5 million bottles of children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen to be circulated across Alberta, and then the nation.

“In the days ahead, we will be working closely with Alberta Health Services and Health Canada to expedite the approval process and get this additional supply to Canada and onto Alberta pharmacy shelves and into hospitals as quickly as possible,” Copping said during the announcement.

The medication will be supplied to the province by Atabay Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals.

In an effort to tackle the hoarding of medication, the provincial government stated that the medicines will be available to pharmacies at “a price that lets them sell it at the average retail price.”

Copping added that once the provincial demand for the medication is fulfilled, the government will work with Health Canada to circulate the medicines across Canada.

Linsey Hollett, the director of health product compliance for Health Canada, on Tuesday in an address to the House of Commons health committee stated that about 800 medications are currently in short supply in Canada.