ALBANY — New York Attorney General Letitia James sounded the alarm Monday about the price hikes of painkillers and fever reducers for children as demand for those drugs surges amid a rise in respiratory illnesses fueled by COVID-19, RSV and the flu .
According to the attorney general’s office, these children’s drugs are sold online and in stores at prices that are two or three times the retail value.
James urged New Yorkers to be on the lookout for possible price hikes on children’s drugs, including Tylenol and Motrin, and other brand names of the generics acetaminophen and ibuprofen, as well as aspirin, and to report dramatic price increases to her office.
James said the impact of the “triplemic” is leaving families to care for sick children as they “cope with the national shortage of Tylenol and other children’s medications.”
“If New Yorkers see major price increases for children’s medications, I encourage them to report it to my office immediately,” she said.
New York hospitals have seen a rise in COVID-19 admissions in recent weeks, as well as an increase in patients with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which is most severe in children and people with weakened immune systems.
At the same time, the state is seeing flu levels rise, especially compared to the past two winters, when COVID-19 restrictions around masking and social distancing prevented widespread infection. The flu has been categorized as geographically widespread in New York for the eleventh consecutive week, according to the Department of Health’s most recent weekly flu report.
The flu and RSV came to New York early this year, but there are signs that infection levels may be declining. According to the Department of Health, about 41 percent of flu samples tested positive for the week ending Dec. 17, down 4 percent from the week before. The number of patients hospitalized with lab-confirmed flu was 2,709, a 3 percent decrease from the previous week.
There have been five reported childhood influenza-related deaths this season.
New York law prohibits merchants from taking unfair advantage of consumers by selling goods or services essential to their health, safety or well-being for an exorbitant price.
Due to the nationwide shortage, James advises consumers to buy only as much children’s medication as they need and not to stockpile unnecessarily, as such panic buying can increase the shortage and encourage sellers to illegally inflate prices.
The Attorney General also reminds consumers that it is not a price hike for retailers to limit the amount of drugs they sell to individual consumers.
When reporting price gouging to the Attorney General’s office, consumers must:
- Report the specific increased prices, the dates and places they saw the increased prices, and the types of drugs being sold.
- Provide copies of their sales receipts and photos of the advertised prices, if available.
- Report any concerns about price gouging to OAG by filing a complaint online or calling 1-800-771-7755.
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