The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - November 15, 2022


Kids medication; empty shelves, help is on the way


Episode Stats


Length

17 minutes

Words per minute

187.42325

Word count

3,205

Sentence count

233


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of The Blueprints, host Jamie Schmael is joined by Member of Parliament Layla Goodrich (R-Fort McMurray, Alberta) to discuss the ongoing shortage of Tylenol and ibuprofen in Canada.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints.
00:00:08.460 This is Canada's Conservative Podcast.
00:00:10.700 I'm your host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton and Co-Orthal Lake Sproch
00:00:14.040 with new content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time.
00:00:18.260 We ask that you like, comment, subscribe, share this program.
00:00:21.940 If you can't listen or watch it to its entirety right this second, download it,
00:00:25.740 listen to it on platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, you name it.
00:00:29.340 It is out there. I guarantee you this is a message that you are not hearing in the mainstream media.
00:00:34.220 And with that, we have an amazing guest, Layla Goodrich,
00:00:36.820 Member of Parliament for Fort McMurray, Co-Orthal Lake in the beautiful province of Alberta.
00:00:41.500 We're talking about something I think that is hitting households no matter where you are in this country.
00:00:46.480 And it's been a few months now. We've had a major shortage in this country.
00:00:50.740 Any parent will know this. You go to the store, you see bare shelves.
00:00:53.520 You see near-empty shelves of children medication for, well, kids medication for fever and other pain relief methods.
00:01:01.780 So we're going to bring on Layla. Thanks for being here.
00:01:04.160 Thank you, Jamie.
00:01:05.040 Very serious topic, but there is relief coming.
00:01:08.080 Before we rewind the tape on how we got there, let's just put some parents at ease.
00:01:12.900 Some relief is coming.
00:01:13.820 Yeah, so Health Canada did announce yesterday, in fact, that they have managed to secure some foreign supplies that will be hitting retail shelves in the coming weeks.
00:01:24.340 They didn't really specify what the coming weeks means and how it's going to be distributed, but it is a step in the right direction.
00:01:31.380 And for parents out there that are currently struggling, there are options, and they're expensive, so it's not the best option.
00:01:38.940 But if you're in a pinch and you do need Tylenol or Advil for your kid, you can go to a compounding pharmacy.
00:01:46.620 So if you look up online, a compounding pharmacy, the pharmacist can make up and put it into the syrup and give you the appropriate dosage.
00:01:55.740 Or, depending on your community, they might not be able to do that, but they can explain to you how to split adult dosage and how to mix it and give the appropriate dose for the age and size of your child.
00:02:09.360 And I would say, I would urge any parent that's looking to do this, don't go online to look to find this.
00:02:16.280 Call a pharmacist.
00:02:17.440 Get the professional's information before trying to do this at home.
00:02:20.600 And compounding pharmacies are very hard to find.
00:02:22.860 Not all communities have them.
00:02:24.120 You might have to drive a while to find them.
00:02:26.780 They are very specialized.
00:02:28.320 They are specialized, but it is an option for that.
00:02:32.960 It's quite expensive.
00:02:34.640 It doesn't last for terribly too long.
00:02:36.940 But it's better than nothing.
00:02:39.120 So I give this to parents that are really struggling.
00:02:42.400 That is potentially an option to look at.
00:02:44.600 So according to CBC, the government is taking, I quote,
00:02:47.440 extraordinary measures to help introduce more supply into the marketplace here.
00:02:52.260 And according to the health minister, he seems to claim it's going to be months, the equivalent of months of supply on the shelves eventually.
00:03:00.940 Some people may be seeing relief already.
00:03:02.600 But it is, I think, for anybody in the last few months that is going from one store to the other, finding empty shelves, this will be some relief, some breathing room here.
00:03:14.480 Yeah, but again, we don't know when it's going to actually hit the retail shelves.
00:03:19.540 We do know that they've managed to find enough supply that our hospitals won't run out.
00:03:24.420 So that's a step in the right direction.
00:03:26.780 Our hospitals will not run out of children's acetaminophen and ibuprofen, which are the generic names for these two drugs.
00:03:32.780 But we don't know exactly when they're going to hit the retail shelves.
00:03:37.880 But it's not a global supply chain.
00:03:39.160 We've seen stories in the media about people driving, if they can, across the border into the United States and accessing supply quite easily.
00:03:47.960 Well, yeah.
00:03:48.460 So I'm sure your constituents have the luxury of being able to cross the border relatively quickly and easily.
00:03:55.120 And being able to cross the border.
00:03:57.980 And I've seen tons of photos.
00:03:59.180 I've actually had people send me photos from their vacations.
00:04:02.900 Some of my constituents were down in Nevada, and they sent me some pictures of fully stocked shelves where you can even pick what flavor you wanted.
00:04:11.680 So it's not a global issue like the government tries to say it is.
00:04:15.660 It seems to be a made-in-Canada problem.
00:04:18.360 Yeah, it definitely seems to be that way.
00:04:20.820 And I'm going to give you full credit for this.
00:04:22.620 You were raising alarm bells, I think, almost in May and April.
00:04:27.620 I'll let you share your personal story.
00:04:29.520 I don't want to take that away from you.
00:04:30.660 But how you came to realize and kind of investigate a little further what was actually going on back in April and May.
00:04:38.440 Yeah, so I'm a first-time mom.
00:04:40.260 I've got a little guy.
00:04:41.700 He's now 14 months old.
00:04:43.160 And so as he was teething, we started to realize that, like, you're using this medication to control so that little kids don't suffer in pain.
00:04:51.420 And I couldn't find it on the shelves in April in Fort McMurray.
00:04:55.120 And that kind of seemed weird.
00:04:56.740 But I'm a first-time mom.
00:04:57.940 We're in COVID.
00:04:58.520 There's all kinds of supply chain shortages.
00:05:00.240 I remember the toilet paper that was out for weeks on end and months on end in some communities.
00:05:05.700 So I wasn't all that concerned.
00:05:09.340 I just thought it might have been an issue in my community.
00:05:12.220 And then I started looking a little bit further and realizing, no, this is a much wider spread issue.
00:05:16.920 And the last time I actually saw it on the shelves in my community in any amount of supply was in May, which is a long time.
00:05:24.160 That's a long time.
00:05:24.980 That's a very long time.
00:05:26.080 And the government of Canada finally acknowledged that it was a problem in August, but with no real movement.
00:05:34.500 I think they basically did a press conference.
00:05:36.720 Health Canada did a press conference.
00:05:37.680 They just said, like, they put out a release saying that we acknowledge that there's a shortage.
00:05:41.100 Okay, wonderful.
00:05:42.320 But what are you doing about it?
00:05:43.720 No information about what parents could do because of the shortage.
00:05:47.600 No information telling them about the compounding pharmacies.
00:05:50.340 No real solution.
00:05:53.540 Just we acknowledge there's a problem.
00:05:55.160 And that stresses parents out.
00:05:58.240 And so I started seeing more and more parents going on to social media forums and saying, like, I can't find Tylenol or Advil for my kids.
00:06:07.200 Does anyone have any, like, the fever is spiking.
00:06:09.980 I don't want to go to the emergency room.
00:06:11.660 And I would see story after story like this.
00:06:14.740 And parents that were like, you know what, I have no other option now.
00:06:17.700 I'm taking my kid to the ER.
00:06:19.400 And only taking their kid to the ER because they had a fever.
00:06:22.100 And we're seeing it now are overcrowded emergency rooms from coast to coast to coast.
00:06:27.420 And we heard from testimony today at the health committee that kids are presenting with simple fevers because parents can't find these drugs.
00:06:36.340 And so they're showing up in our emergency rooms.
00:06:38.220 And I don't blame them.
00:06:40.680 A sick child is horrible.
00:06:43.120 And so this is something that, like, we can and must do better.
00:06:47.200 And as a parent, you will do pretty much anything for your child.
00:06:50.580 Exactly.
00:06:51.440 And I sit there for myself.
00:06:53.120 And I got really frustrated when I found out the shelves were completely stocked in the States.
00:06:59.080 And you could even pick your flavor.
00:07:01.220 And that really gets to me because I'm, I don't even know how many hours away from a border I am.
00:07:07.800 But more than 10 hours from the U.S. border.
00:07:10.640 So I wouldn't have even contemplated crossing the border to go get this.
00:07:16.180 But I've now since thought about it.
00:07:19.580 And I know a lot of parents that have crossed the border and they're making these trips and they're offering to bring some back for friends and family.
00:07:26.460 And that's wonderful.
00:07:28.460 But why are families having to go to that extreme length to get this medication?
00:07:33.540 Why can't the government possibly look at some of the regulations we have in place to make sure that we don't end up in this place?
00:07:39.540 That would be really nice.
00:07:40.880 We talked about the media conference.
00:07:42.800 Health Canada has the press release saying that we acknowledge there's a shortage.
00:07:47.020 Nothing was really done.
00:07:49.120 But you raised it in question period.
00:07:50.820 Then our leader, Pierre Polyev, raised it in question period.
00:07:53.040 And finally, it appeared in the headlines in the mainstream media.
00:07:55.500 Finally, the government started talking about it.
00:07:57.400 And I believe the NDP even clued in and said, yeah, there's a bit of a shortage here.
00:08:01.200 There's a problem.
00:08:01.780 But yet, it was happening in our communities.
00:08:04.520 Oh, and it had been happening for six months.
00:08:06.420 Today at Health Committee, we found out that Health Canada has known that this is a problem since the spring.
00:08:12.520 Crickets.
00:08:13.480 They have no real good answer as to why all of a sudden they've only started talking about it in the last two weeks.
00:08:19.840 But you and I both know that it's because we finally decided to take this issue to a larger state.
00:08:26.720 I've been bringing this up in Health Committee since September.
00:08:29.480 However, I've been talking to colleagues about it since the spring.
00:08:33.740 So it's not like this was an issue.
00:08:35.920 This was an issue we were trying to solve and not bring it into question period because, frankly, this is children's health.
00:08:41.460 Yes.
00:08:41.840 This isn't something.
00:08:42.880 This is not partisan.
00:08:43.660 Listen, I don't think a single person and I don't think anyone has ill will on the other side.
00:08:48.300 But everything this government has touched is broken.
00:08:51.880 And now we are letting children suffer in pain because we can't get our stuff together to get this medication on the shelves.
00:09:01.920 And they just blame parents.
00:09:03.400 They say parents are stockpiling as if somehow that is the problem.
00:09:07.200 You know what?
00:09:08.680 Show me the evidence.
00:09:09.600 Yeah, very good point.
00:09:12.400 Yeah.
00:09:12.660 I don't think parents are stockpiling.
00:09:15.320 I think they're trying to provide the necessary relief for their kids who are suffering.
00:09:20.920 And I think to the point we've tried to make on energy, the price of energy, the price of food, the long waits on veterans' affairs, it did not need to get to this point.
00:09:33.280 I think that's the ongoing theme.
00:09:35.340 There were things in place the government could be doing.
00:09:37.480 They aren't doing.
00:09:38.320 Why are people camped outside a passport office?
00:09:40.760 Why are veterans still waiting for the benefits they deserve?
00:09:43.700 And you're right.
00:09:44.700 It just seems like everything this government touches is broken.
00:09:47.740 But their solution to everything is another government program to fix the mess they made in the first place.
00:09:52.420 Well, and I think this is part of the issue, is that, like, why haven't they been engaging and giving out information on this?
00:09:59.560 And I think that it's a problem that goes well beyond this issue to so many other issues.
00:10:06.940 And as a young mom, I'm giving a voice to all of the parents that are struggling.
00:10:11.580 Because when I first couldn't find Tylenol and Advil on the shelf, I thought I was going crazy.
00:10:17.740 I thought that it was my problem and I just had bad luck.
00:10:21.180 And I'm a first-time mom, so it's not like I've been, like, actively looking for these for, like, a decade.
00:10:26.440 Maybe this is normal.
00:10:28.040 I don't know.
00:10:29.400 But to realize that this is a common problem that parents from coast to coast to coast are having,
00:10:33.920 I figured it needed to have the importance of them knowing that politicians care.
00:10:41.740 We see their struggle and we're going to make it better.
00:10:44.920 And we're now hearing that there are shortages of some of the prescription medication that's critical for kids,
00:10:50.560 like amoxilin and erythromycin, that are basic generic medications for antibiotics,
00:10:59.060 mostly used for kids.
00:11:01.320 And so we need to get down to the bottom of all of these issues to make sure that Canada has what we need
00:11:07.420 so our kids aren't unnecessarily sick.
00:11:10.600 And it goes back to a point you made a little while ago when you said the government needs to,
00:11:15.260 well, we think anyway, we believe the government needs to re-evaluate some of the rules, regulations,
00:11:19.780 and red tape they have in place that could have prevented this.
00:11:22.680 But also the fact, aside for the fact that they did not move quick enough to fix this thing,
00:11:29.140 that we should be examining because how we were able to, according to this report,
00:11:33.960 import this medication from the United States and Australia
00:11:36.840 was the fact that a lot of the rules, regulations, and red tape were relaxed temporarily
00:11:41.900 to allow additional supply to come in.
00:11:44.720 Should we not be looking at that from the beginning?
00:11:47.140 Well, and I think that this is a critical thing that all governments of every level
00:11:52.800 need to be doing a better job at, is looking at what their regulatory burden is
00:11:56.460 and what unnecessary red tape exists.
00:11:59.720 Where is government getting in the way of people getting the service they need?
00:12:03.020 And it's not about being relaxed on safety.
00:12:06.340 This is about making sure that we don't unnecessarily have rules in place.
00:12:10.400 So one of the questions I've had, and I haven't even thought to bring this up to officials yet,
00:12:14.420 so I'm just spitballing this, but is it a situation where we have limits on the size of doses
00:12:20.960 that can be sold in Canada that don't exist in other countries?
00:12:25.000 So we couldn't import the domestically produced stuff because we can only have 100 milliliter bottles
00:12:32.080 and everywhere else can have bigger bottles.
00:12:34.420 I'm not sure.
00:12:35.660 Is it that we have specific rules around the packaging and the children's tops?
00:12:41.300 These are all kinds of questions that, like, we know that Health Canada has ridiculous rules in place
00:12:47.740 when it comes to window coverings, when it comes to baby walkers that you can get in most of every other country
00:12:53.980 but you can't get in Canada because they're illegal.
00:12:56.020 There's all kinds of regulations in place, and many of them are in place because kids did get hurt.
00:13:02.720 And so some of these are in place for a good reason, and my question comes,
00:13:07.720 but do we have technology where we can mitigate those risks?
00:13:11.580 And so then, do we actually need to have all those regulations?
00:13:14.840 Absolutely.
00:13:15.400 And the government, in my opinion, should be always evaluating,
00:13:18.160 always evaluating the rules, regulations, and red tape that they have in place
00:13:22.200 so that they are serving the constituents, the taxpayers, to the best of their ability.
00:13:28.220 Exactly, and it's about making sure we're actually there to serve Canadians,
00:13:32.380 not telling Canadians what the government can do for them.
00:13:35.160 Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:13:36.980 So I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
00:13:40.580 We're going to continue holding them to account because they've been pretty vague.
00:13:44.640 So even though there is relief coming and we know that our hospitals aren't going to be shorted,
00:13:50.140 we don't know when it's going to hit the retail shelves.
00:13:52.520 We don't know when parents are going to be able to just go to the store and find it.
00:13:55.560 So we're going to keep pushing them because, frankly, left to their own devices,
00:14:00.140 who knows what's going to happen.
00:14:01.680 That's actually a very good point.
00:14:03.280 Left to their own devices, you have a gap of about three months where nothing really happens.
00:14:08.260 Well, that and, like, there aren't a lot of young parents in Parliament.
00:14:14.220 True.
00:14:14.680 So this is an issue that even the first few times I brought it up,
00:14:18.400 it was like, is this really a government problem?
00:14:21.920 But I think it is.
00:14:22.960 Our government has gone in and stepped over people in so many different ways in the last three years.
00:14:30.880 If there is one place that the government should probably be stepping in, it's here.
00:14:34.940 Well, I would say it is a government problem because if there are rules, regulations,
00:14:39.860 and red tape hindering the importation of that medicine that could have been on the shelves,
00:14:46.540 then that is a problem.
00:14:47.820 If it's a labelling issue with English and French, the Pharmacists Association were more than happy to put labels,
00:14:53.480 like print labels off, stick them to the box, right?
00:14:55.680 There were solutions in place.
00:14:57.520 But if the government said, no, we have to have a certain kind of font or whatever,
00:15:01.480 and that stopped it, well, that's a problem.
00:15:04.260 Because kids are suffering and parents are getting a little nervous,
00:15:07.900 or they were way past nervous by now.
00:15:09.760 Well, and this is the problem, is that parents are under already so much stress.
00:15:16.140 This is just another piece where the government has kind of overlooked that entire demographic.
00:15:22.880 And, like, I'm here.
00:15:24.680 I'm a voice for parents from coast to coast to coast.
00:15:27.920 Our entire conservative team takes this exceptionally seriously.
00:15:32.960 And I think that it's something that I look forward to continuing to bring forward problems
00:15:38.840 that are important to young parents and families all across this country.
00:15:43.700 Well, I know for a fact that I was getting emails for quite some time about this,
00:15:47.280 just parents saying, hey, is this a problem?
00:15:48.780 Same kind of thing you said.
00:15:50.100 You start off saying, well, okay, maybe this is maybe normal.
00:15:53.760 Well, then it started to progress, and it got to the point where, yeah, this is not normal.
00:15:59.080 So we're kind of out of time here.
00:16:00.900 But I always give the guests the floor for the final word.
00:16:04.160 You can say anything you want about this topic or anything else you feel the need to.
00:16:08.600 Well, I want to thank you for bringing a platform to this critically important issue.
00:16:14.480 And to anyone listening at home or wherever they happen to listen,
00:16:19.820 if you have any questions, if you're running into problems,
00:16:21.880 don't hesitate to reach out to our offices.
00:16:24.940 We're here to serve.
00:16:25.960 We're here to help.
00:16:26.880 Absolutely.
00:16:27.500 Layla Goodridge, member of Parliament for Fort McMurray Cold Lake in the beautiful province of Alberta,
00:16:32.080 the northern part of Alberta, the, I guess, the star, the jewel of Alberta.
00:16:37.960 Oil sands.
00:16:39.120 Absolutely.
00:16:40.060 We appreciate your time as well.
00:16:42.020 And with this topic, very serious topic, please like, comment, subscribe, share this program.
00:16:47.420 I know in your social media network there are parents who are struggling that would love this information.
00:16:52.600 Please do that.
00:16:53.440 Tell them you can download it on platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, you name it.
00:16:58.320 It is out there.
00:16:58.900 New content every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern time.
00:17:02.280 Until then, low taxes, less governments, more freedom.
00:17:05.320 That's the blueprint.
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