View Full Version : FDA Says Children's Cold Rememdies Unproven
Polly
10-20-2007, 07:14 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/19/AR2007101900246.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Over-the-counter cough and cold medications should not be used in children younger than age 6, a special panel of federal advisers concluded yesterday after an exhaustive review of the products' safety and effectiveness.
The Food and Drug Administration panel voted 13 to 9 to recommend against the use of the products for children in that age group after concluding overwhelmingly that there was insufficient evidence the long-used remedies worked in youngsters.
"The sentiment here is that they should not be used," said Mary E. Tinetti of Yale University School of Medicine, who chaired the group.
The panel, however, decided against making a similar recommendation for older children. It voted 15 to 7 to reject a call to discontinue use of the products for children 6 to 11 years old, even though it had earlier agreed there was no evidence that the products do any good for that group, either...
Maleah
10-20-2007, 07:46 AM
I wish the FDA would get their head out of their butt. The message they're sending isn't very clear.
I also hate how we now have to have warnings on products advising parents not to do stupid crap.
Its a constant campagin to dumb everything down. The average person can somehow figure out an ipod or TiVo, but measuring correct dosage is just beyond them apparently.
I believe the cough suppressant aspect doesn't work -- never has on my kids, anyway -- but it's a load of crap that the decongestant part doesn't work. It DOES....either that or we have had an amazing series of coincidences over the past 7 years where I keep giving my kids decongestant and, by random chance, their noses just happen to clear up within thirty minutes. :rolleyes
Danielle
10-20-2007, 11:07 AM
I believe the cough suppressant aspect doesn't work -- never has on my kids, anyway -- but it's a load of crap that the decongestant part doesn't work. It DOES....either that or we have had an amazing series of coincidences over the past 7 years where I keep giving my kids decongestant and, by random chance, their noses just happen to clear up within thirty minutes. :rolleyes
ITA, I've had the same experience. Decongestant also works wonders on ear infection pain while waiting for the antibiotics to kick in.
Kristi
10-20-2007, 11:17 AM
I agree with Mary. The decongestants have helped my kids get a night of good sleep many times when they are sick.
Any doctor will tell you not to bother with a cough suppresant, but decongestants or expectorants are great.
Our doctor told me long ago that these meds have never been tested on children and as such there's really no safe way to dispense them.
gr8mommy
10-21-2007, 06:04 PM
Cough supressants are contraindicated by your own body---if you are coughing, it is because you need to expel something from your lungs or other part of your airway. Supressing that reflex goes against nature.
All this nonsense is simply going to lead MORE kids to be overdosed by parents using stronger junior or adult formulas and trying to adjust downward. Idiots.
I don't try to stop my kids' coughing during the day. The only time I try to use a suppressant is at night when they are being completely kept from sleeping because of a continual cough. Now, it never works, so I've given up.....but that's why I tried it; to try to get the poor things a solid night's sleep. I'm all for leaving them to it during the day.
Danielle
10-22-2007, 04:14 AM
I think we've all had that moment where we'd try anything to get them (and us) some rest Mary :).
YourMom
10-22-2007, 07:13 AM
Huh.. the one time we used a cough suppressant with Adia, she wound up in the hospital a couple of days later. (She couldn't get the gunk out of her lungs.)
I'm sure they work at least part of the time, but I don't know that they're overly safe for kids.
Either way, I'm glad Adia's old enough for Vapo-Rub now! So I don't have to mess with anything beyond Benadryl. (Even then, we try to avoid it.)
Steph, when Aidan had RSV, the doctor mentioned to me that the cough suppressants/decongestants could be very dangerous with RSV for that very reason. He was too young for them anyone, but I think she wanted to make sure I wasn't going to run out ahnd try them.
YourMom
10-22-2007, 08:46 AM
I wish we'd known that's (RSV) what was going on, but we were told to treat with Pediacare, etc. as needed.
Now we have the nebulizer "as needed" :P
Niiiiice trade off, huh? We only have "inhaler as needed" - so i guess that's a little better.
On a side note, those meds are bad for croup, too - the decongestant part, because they dry out already over dry mucous membranes.