Family Has Difficulty Finding Tamiflu in Massachusetts

Both the FDA and Genentech however, say Tamiflu is not out of stock

A Massachusetts family says they are having difficulty finding Tamiflu at the height of the flu season.

For the Minicucci family of Salisbury, it’s been a tough weekend where six-year-old Cole came down with the flu on Friday and four-year-old Quinn tested positive for Influenza A on Sunday.

“Sunday morning she is 103, really warm,” said mom Hillary Minicucci.

Five-month-old Chase wasn’t showing any symptoms, but the pediatrician recommended Tamiflu for all three kids.

Its parent company Genentech says if taken within 48 hours of the first symptoms, it can lessen the severity of the flu or prevent its onset.

“Especially we want to get Chase on Tamiflu, the baby, because he hasn’t been vaccinated,” said Hillary Minicucci.

“I got germs all over him on accident,” added Quinn Minicucci.

But shortly after the doctor called in the prescription, the Minicuccis got a call from the pharmacy.

“We’ve searched within a 50 mile radius and we cannot find – we’re out of stock for Tamiflu everywhere,” relayed Hillary Minicucci.

Both the FDA and Genentech say Tamiflu is not out of stock.

But the chains and local pharmacies we checked with didn’t have the pediatric version of Tamiflu on their shelves.

“We have to watch what we stock, a lot of what we do is sort of a guessing game,” said Robert Pavlan with Belmont Pharmacy.

Pavlan says it can be cost-prohibitive to stock Tamiflu, with a price tag of about $200 per prescription.

“It does get expensive and then as time goes on, we would lose our ability to return it for the full price of what we paid for it,” said Pavlan.

Pharmacies can order it from their distributors, but meanwhile the clock’s ticking.

“To have to worry about is my baby going to get sick, it’s just super frustrating,” Hillary Minicucci said.

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