Just in time for the arrival of cold and flu season, the most popular children's antibiotic remains in short supply. The FDA continues to list amoxicillin on its drug shortage list after one year, although specific reasons for the shortage are not cited. Amoxicillin is the most commonly prescribed antibiotic for children, commonly used for ear and sinus infections, bronchitis and other maladies. It is just one of many popular prescription drugs that have been in short supply for a long time, with no timetable for improvement.
KTRH medical expert Dr. Joe Galati says this shortage is of particular concern to family doctors. "In the case of an antibiotic, as long as it's not being overly-prescribed, you certainly want children to have access to these medicines this time of the year," he tells KTRH.
That said, Dr. Galati doesn't believe over-prescription of antibiotics is the main cause of this shortage. "I'm a little concerned here that here we are, more than a year out of COVID, and we're still dealing with these supply chain issues," he tells KTRH. "It has forced us to really evaluate, and become more introspective on where we get our products...is it a computer chip, or is it an antibiotic?"
Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel reports that most of the ingredients for amoxicillin come from China and India. Dr. Galati believes this won't be fixed anytime soon. "It makes us rethink the manufacturing abroad...is it a friendly country, is there some geopolitical situation that can cause disruption?" says Galati. "That's what the people in Washington D.C. really need to think about, for many of the products that we get from overseas."
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