How the Over-the-Counter Cough and Cold Medicine Recall relates to your Preschooler

When cold symptoms surface in your preschooler, a parent’s natural reaction is to try to soothe these symptoms. But over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications that have long lined the shelves of pharmacies to help may cause more harm than good for your preschooler. On January 17 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a health advisory against the use of cough and cold medicines for children 2 years old and younger. Here, you’ll find more about the advisory and why cough and cold medications may be dangerous for preschoolers, too.
 

The OTC Cough and Cold Medication Controversy

In fall 2007, an FDA advisory committee’s cautious findings about OTC cough and cold medications for children, especially those under the age of 6, made national headlines. This committee asserted that OTC cough and cold medicines are ineffective and potentially dangerous for this age group. Evidence of the negative effects of OTC medications included reports of convulsions, reduced consciousness, heart palpitations and death. The pharmaceutical companies have already voluntary withdrawn OTC cough and cold medications labeled for “infants” from the shelves, but insist that they are safe when taken according to the recommended doses.

The ingredients in the OTC medications in question include decongestants, expectorants, antitussives and antihistamines, and are labeled as such on the medication bottles and boxes.

Following the FDA's health advisory on OTC cold and cough medications for those 2 years old and under, the Centers for Disease Control issued a report stating that every year approximately 7,000 children under the age of 11 are taken to the emergency room for complications caused by these medications. Preschoolers are disproportionately affected in this statistic, with 2 to 5 year olds making up 64 percent of those emergency room cases. Additionally, many cases arose out of unsupervised cold and cough medication intake.
 
Now that a firm stance on OTC cough and cold medications has been taken for those 2 and younger, recommendations for preschool age children and children up to 11 years old will be released once more complete FDA reviews are completed, expected spring 2008.

Tips to Avoid OTC cough and cold medication complications for your Preschooler

1. Keep all OTC cough and cold medications out the reach of your preschooler (and other children) and never let them handle these medications on their own.

2. Do not use cough and cold medications made for older children and adults for younger children's symptoms.

3. Throw out all products in your medicine cabinet labeled OTC cough and cold for “infants.”

4. Do not teach children and preschoolers that medicine is like “candy.”

5. The CDC recommends adults not take their own medicines in front of their children, as this may create a preschooler's desire to model the behavior themselves.

6. Many doctors recommend letting a cold or cough ride its course and avoid OTC cough and cold medications altogether because the illness is usually self-limiting. Some experts underscore this argument by saying that these medications are only for symptom relief and if there is possible danger to them, taking them is rather pointless. Instead they recommend other symptom relief methods such as air humidifiers, saltwater nose drops for runny noses, a rubber nose bulb to clear up congestion, lots of liquid intake, and a visit to the pediatrician. And last, but not least, the mainstay of chicken soup is always comforting and helpful.

By: Pia Chaparro

References:

American Academy of Pediatrics “American Academy Of Pediatrics Urges Caution In Use Of Over-The-Counter Cough And Cold Medicines” Jan 17, 2008 Retrieved from http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/jan08coughandcold.htm

Centers for Disease Control. “CDC Study Estimates 7,000 Pediatric Emergency Departments Visits Linked to Cough and Cold Medication” Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/2008/r080128.htm

Consumers Healthcare Products Association. “Makers of OTC Cough and Cold Medicines Announce Voluntary Withdrawal of Oral Infant Medicines”. October 11, 2007.

Food and Drug Administration. “Food And Drug Administration Center For Drug Evaluation And Research (Cder) Joint Meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and thePediatric Advisory Committee. October 18-19, 2007. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/07/questions/2007-4323Q1-Questions.pdf

Food and Drug Administration. “FDA Releases Recommendations Regarding Use of Over-the-Counter Cough and Cold Products “ Jan 17, 2008 Retreived from http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01778.html