[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 198 (Tuesday, December 20, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7812-S7813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CHILDREN'S MEDICINE

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, I rise today to call attention to a 
very serious issue and potential crisis that seems to be unfolding 
right under our eyes and under the radar. Right now, many, many 
communities across our country are facing a huge shortage of children's 
painkillers, like Children's Tylenol, and antibiotics, like 
amoxicillin.
  We are in the middle of flu season and in an unusually bad year for 
RSV, a virus that can be especially tough on young children. As parents 
head to pharmacies to get medicines to help their sick kids and to make 
them feel better, they are seeing very empty shelves across our 
country.
  My staff is hearing from folks daily about the problems that they are 
seeing trying to find these medicines, both over-the-counter and 
prescription.
  David, a pharmacist from Andalusia, AL, told that ``currently [they] 
cannot order multiple antibiotics commonly used for pediatric patients, 
including amoxicillin.'' He is also unable to order pain medicine like 
Tylenol and Advil. It is not available.
  You can't even order it, much less get it. David was told by his 
wholesaler that the supply of medication simply does not exist, as we 
speak--and this is in the middle of a very serious flu and cold season 
all throughout our country.
  Another pharmacist, Dennis from Opelika, AL, faces the same problem 
and described the potentially dire nature of the shortage. He told me: 
``This can rapidly''--and is rapidly--``turning into a serious 
situation among the most vulnerable population,'' which is ``our 
children.''
  Worse is what some desperate but well-meaning parents are turning to 
in order to provide their children some help. Moms and dads who can't 
find kids' medicines are choosing to give their children smaller doses 
of adult medicine instead. Doctors are warning constantly against this 
in the strongest possible terms--a warning we should be sharing far and 
wide: Children's medicine is specifically designed for the developing 
of young bodies.
  But parents with sick children don't have time to drive from town to 
town to search for these medicines. This crisis is developing across 
the country, and we should not wait for it to get worse before doing 
something about it. We cannot allow this situation to turn into the 
baby formula crisis.

  While this medication shortage will, no doubt, require a short-term 
solution, I want to take a minute to highlight an important long-term 
solution to these supply chain problems.
  We need to produce pharmaceuticals in the United States. Very little 
of that happens today. The United States has every capability to be 
able to produce essential goods right here at home. The pandemic showed 
us the very serious consequences of depending on imports for things 
that we need to

[[Page S7813]]

survive, especially from adversaries like China. Congress and the rest 
of the Federal Government should do what we can do to boost domestic 
production in medicine and medical supplies. It has to be done. We 
can't wait.
  Along with essential goods like fuel and critical minerals, 
pharmaceuticals are vital to national security. We cannot allow our 
adversaries to hold their supplies over our heads as a bargaining tool, 
and that is exactly what they are doing as we speak.
  I hope my time on the floor today has opened some eyes to the 
children's medical shortage. The dangers of foreign independence are 
getting worse every day.
  To every parent in Alabama and across our country, we are listening, 
and we want you to listen to the advice of your doctors. Always check 
with medical professionals before giving your children any medicine, 
and hopefully, in the near future, this body can help solve this 
problem and move our suppliers from international to domestic.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

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