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Aug 29, 2008 -- FDA considering new warning on kids' medications
As a parent, Clark felt guilty last cold & flu season when he gave his children over-the-counter remedies after a warning came out specifically for kids under 6. Now he feels even guiltier -- there's a group of pediatricians petitioning the FDA to ban such remedies for kids under 12. The FDA now must look at their evidence and see if it warrants a further ban.
The pediatricians are warning that giving your children anything beyond generic ibuprofen or acetaminophen could result in hallucinations, seizures, trouble breathing, heart problems and occasionally death. If you have anything stronger than Tylenol or Motrin in your medicine cabinet, throw it out or just use it for yourself. Don't give it to your children.
And remember you should be buying generic Tylenol or Motrin -- not the brand-name stuff.
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What others are saying
The problem is...
they don't put the dosage on the labels for children! They just print some generic warning. Like on infant Tylenol, it says, "consult doctor for children under 6." So you'd have to guess. Even when they tell you a dosage, it's some generic amount, and not dosage per pound as it should be.
Obscuring dosage information for children doesn't make them safer or healthier.
Q
Consider this...
As a father of two 4 & 6 and a Health Care Professional and consumer we are inundated with all types of medications for our children. I just never go for all that rubbish. Plain acetaminophen or ibuprofen along with generic Benadryl can do wonders when dosed appropriately. I mean and cannot overemphasize appropriately, in my practice 55% of adult patients cannot take their medications correctly for one reason or another and after being instructed by myself and the pharmacist along with handouts. So imagine them trying to dose their children. I dose my children by weight not age. For the most part we are to quick to reach out for a "drug". But its what the pharmaceutical companies want us to do. Consumer beware!
Medicine for children under the age of 12
Does this mean that my children should suffer every sympton of a cold just because other parents either don't read the labels or don't check with their pediatricians? I have 2 children under 3 and my pediatrician recommends certain over the counter medicines that she herself uses on her children the same age. Both of my children have allergy/sinus problems and my youngest was hospitalized with a respiratory infection when he was 2 months old, so colds hit him harder and for them to have no relief and to just deal with it is unthinkable to me. I don't just deal with it when I have a cold. I take medicine for the symptons so I can function during the day. I don't overmedicate them nor do I give it to them at the drop of a hat. But when the humidifier, cleaning their noses, saline, vicks rub and steam don't do the trick to help them out I do turn to medicine to help them. But only with medicine and dosages given to me by me pediatrician, updated on a regular basis for their size/age and any new information that she has.
Childrens' cold medicine
I think Clark's program is the best I have heard on radio. I do take issue, however, with his advice to toss out cold medicines for children under the age of 12. It is very sad to hear of children being injured or killed by cold medicines, but before a ban is imposed, we should ask some questions. How often have these injuries occurred? What were the circumstances, did the parents follow the directions on the bottle; did they use multiple products that ended up giving toxic doses of some ingredients; did the child have some underlying illness that was worsened by these medicines? See if education of parents about dangers can reduce the problems that are reported. Parents need to read labels carefully and compare lists of ingredients to make sure they aren't doubling up on an ingredient by using two products. What would be wrong with asking the pediatrician at an office visit to recommend the products he or she feels is safe for home use for your child--before the need arises? I hate to see anyone injured by cars or guns or medicine. But in a way it is a human right to try to preserve your health and the health of your family. Not everyone can afford to go to the pediatrician every time a child is sick. Even those who go to doctors religiously sometimes have to take matters into their own hands when the doctors can't help them. I don't believe we should take away peoples' options of doing for themselves, even if mistakes are made.
