The Alberta-imported, Turkish-made children’s acetaminophen is now available at pharmacies around the province, provincial officials said Monday afternoon.
“They’re still being distributed around the province,” Health Minister Jason Copping said, noting it was at the Edmonton drug store the government staged the announcement at.
One third of the 750,000-bottle order from Atabay Pharmaceuticals has arrived in Alberta and Copping said the remaining shipments will be coming to the province by the end of the month.
Alberta announced the deal to secure five million bottles of children’s pain and fever medicine from Atabay in early December 2022.
Four and a half months later, Copping admitted “it has been challenging for everyone and it has taken a little longer than we hoped for it to arrive.”
Premier Danielle Smith called it a “painstaking and rigorous process” to get the liquid acetaminophen cleared by Health Canada, a process that included new English-French bilingual packaging.
The first shipment of 250,000 bottles went to hospitals across the province in January.
Smith and Copping said there continue to be supply chain challenges in getting other children’s medications.
“We have secured a stable supply of this medication for years to come, ensuring that Alberta isn’t as susceptible to global supply chain disruptions in the future,” Smith said.
The health minister said when the province canvassed drug manufacturers abroad, the Istanbul-based manufacturer was the only one willing to fill Alberta’s order.
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Feds approve Alberta government importation of kids’ pain medications but confusion lingers
Sold under the brand name “Parol,” the glass-bottled children’s pain reliever will be at a lower concentration than what’s commonly found, an Alberta Blue Cross memo said. Because of the different concentration, it must be kept behind the counter and pharmacists must teach parents and/or caregivers how to administer the drug.
Parol has a two-year shelf life.
Copping also announced the first shipment of kids ibuprofen had arrived in the country and was going through the federal quarantine process.