As Flu season hits an early peak, many pharmacies in Wichita Falls have had to turn away patients who are looking for Tamiflu in liquid form.
A pharmacist at Walmart on Lawrence Rd. said the store has tried ordering the liquid form of the medicine for a month, with no luck. For awhile, pharmacists there were able to make the liquid by crushing Tamiflu capsules and mixing them with a sweet syrup.
However, now even the syrup is on back order. This means pharmacies are unable to give out anything but Tamiflu capsules, making it difficult for children and older adults who have trouble swallowing pills.
Compounding pharmacies, like Harvest Drug on Kell, can make the syrup, so they have not been impacted by the shortage. "We do have lots of other pharmacies in town, when they do run out of the Tamiflu suspension, they call us up and send the prescription our way so we can take care of their patient," said Harvest Drug Pharmacist Ginger Pino.
Teressa Stephenson with the Wichita Falls Wichita County Public Health District said about 150 cases of Influenza have been reported since the end of November. This number only includes patients diagnosed at United Regional, and does not take into account those diagnosed at private doctors' offices.
