As cold and flu season approaches us once again, it is time to restock our medicine cabinets, check expiration dates, eliminate out of date products, and just prepare for the illnesses my children bring home from school. Again we are being bombarded with the news about how the FDA is seeking to ban certain over-the-counter medications for children. What is scary, is that most of us have used these very products for years on our children and even on ourselves when we were children.
What should one believe and do? According to the latest news, “a top government health official on Thursday rejected pediatricians’ calls for an immediate ban on over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for young children saying it might cause unintended harm.”(Yahoo news)
So, what as parents are we to do? I cannot afford to run to the doctor or ER every time my children get sick. Most people are in the same situation. The economy has put a big dent in our money for doctor visits and everything else.
The fear is that many will get adult cold and cough medications and give them to children which is an even more dangerous situation. Please do not do this!! The suggested recall is mainly for children under the age of 6. This is because the effectiveness of the medicines in children was never proven and problems from the drugs send thousands of kids to the ER every year. For this reason, the risks of giving this medication to children under 6 years old far outweigh the benefits.
This problem is very frustrating for parents. Just be aware of the products you are using and make sure not to cause an unintentional overdose for example by giving a child a decongestant and a cough syrup. Many of these have the same ingredients so using both would be a double dose. Always check the ingredients and read the directions. If unsure, always consult your child’s pediatrician. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081002/ap_on_he_me/med_cold_medicines
