Posted on 10/12/2007 3:44:24 AM PDT by deport
Infant cold medicines pulled off market
WASHINGTON - Drug makers pulled cold medicines targeted for babies and toddlers off the market Thursday, leaving parents to find alternatives for hacking coughs and runny little noses just as fall sniffles get in full swing.
The move represented a pre-emptive strike by over-the-counter drug manufacturers — a week before government advisers were to debate the medicines' fate. But it doesn't end concern about the safety of these remedies for youngsters.
Thursday's withdrawal includes medicines aimed at children under age 2, after the Food and Drug Administration and other health groups reported deaths linked to the remedies in recent years, primarily from unintentional overdoses.
A remaining question is whether children under 6 should ever take these nonprescription drugs.
Baltimore city officials filed a petition with the FDA — joined by the Maryland chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and prominent pediatricians around the country — arguing that oral cough and cold medicines don't work in children so young, and pose health risks not just for babies but for preschoolers, too.
"Pediatricians are taught these products don't work and may not be safe. Yet almost every parent uses them," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner and a pediatrician, who blames ads that overpromise relief.
The challenge, he says, will be to convince parents to try old-fashioned methods, like suctioning out infants' noses or using salt-water nose drops.
"If you can actually pull a booger out with a suction device, people can feel better," Sharfstein said.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association announced Thursday that manufacturers were voluntarily ending sales of over-the-counter oral cough and cold products aimed at infants. The list includes infant drops sold under the leading brand names Dimetapp, Pediacare, Robitussin, Triaminic, Little Colds, and versions of Tylenol that contain cough and cold ingredients.
CVS Caremark Corp. added that it would also end sales of CVS-brand equivalents.
"It's important to point out that these medicines are safe and effective when used as directed
[snip]
What to try instead? Pediatric and public health groups recommend:
_Plenty of fluids and rest.
_Suction bulbs to gently clear infants' clogged noses. Saline nose drops loosen thick secretions so noses drain more easily.
_A cool-mist humidifier in the child's bedroom.
_Acetaminophen or ibuprofen, as recommended by your doctor, to alleviate pain or discomfort — but check that they don't contain extra ingredients.
_Some chest creams can ease stuffiness with menthol or other fragrances, but check labels for age restrictions.
Excerpt..... click link for compete article.....
And when baby cries hard all night from a cold and daddy takes a swipe at her or shakes her too hard, she'll be just as dead.
And nose-dropping or suctioning a squirming, crying infant? Yeah, lot's of tired working parents are going to want to do that all night long.
And, BTW, WTF told the Baltimore city officials that they had ANY clue about medicine? Aren't they practicing medicine without a license here (yes, I know they're not - I'm making a point here).
"If you can actually pull a booger out with a suction device, people can feel better,"
Because some idiot parents overdosed their kids I can no longer buy these products? Are you **cking kidding me! Here’s a novel idea - prosecute the parents who showed negligence in caring for their child. Oh wait that involves accountability! Silly me!
So what happens now? You have to go to the doctor and get a prescription?
I bet the prescription medicine is exactly the same as what just got pulled off the shelf.
What makes you think OTC cough medicines don’t work? I used them on my kids and sometimes when the whole family had a cold I used them myself. Triaminic knocked a bad cough down for the night for all of us. I’m furious that I can’t get this stuff anymore. What’s going to happen, of course, is that parents desperate to relieve their children’s misery and get a little sleep themselves are going to be drugging the kids with their own medicines, clumsily titrated for the kids’ weight, and then we’ll have overdosing accidents and even more deaths.
The stuff worked fine in my older daughter (now 6), my younger daughter never really got colds or stuffy noses enough to find out.
When they yank this stuff off of the shelves, the same parents whop OD’d the kids will simply take the children’s or adult’s version, and eyeball a smaller dose ... sometimes with disastrous results.
Before long parents will have to fill out forms and show a drivers license (passport isn’t good enough) to buy infant cold medicine, just like we already do for children’s medicines with pseudoephedrine.
In other news sales of Jack Daniels have skyrocketed.
Parents will be dispensing small doses of adult cold medicines, now.
With an 18 month old, we’ve found OTC medicines don’t work for stuffy nose. Nothing works for that but steamy showers. Lord knows you’ll never get a suction up her nose.
But when she had a horrendous cold last week, the only thing that helped stop her coughing when she laid down was OTC cough medicine. We tried putting her on an incline. We sat in the shower until the hot water ran out (water restrictions be damned). And I let her sleep on my shoulder for as long as I could stay awake.
But in the end, the cough medicine saved us all.
On another note, I can easily see how one would accidentally give their child too much. We went through it last week, trying to get her to take the medicine. Inevitably, she would spit some out and we would go back and forth about whether we should give her a bit more. Very nerve racking because we’ve known about these warnings for a year now.
What the hell has happened to this country?!
IIRC, less than 140 children died over the span of 30 years.
In other news sales of Jack Daniels have skyrocketed.
Yep. I believe it is a way to start the process of having to go to the doctor to get a script for something you shouldn't have to and next on their agenda is making vitamins and homeopathic items prescriptions and money goes to the drug makers.
When they took Dimetapp off the market, it really screwed us. It was the only thing my son could use.
Yes, it will be the same product. The only difference will be in the cost. The MD will get a bonus from the drug companies for prescribing those medicines, the drug companies can charge more, and medical insurance payments will go up.
And when baby cries hard all night from a cold and daddy takes a swipe at her or shakes her too hard, she’ll be just as dead.
And nose-dropping or suctioning a squirming, crying infant? Yeah, lot’s of tired working parents are going to want to do that all night long.
Wow. Drug them or lose it in a parental tantrum.
Neither is a good thing.
There is nothing easy about being a parent. Promoting drugs is not an answer.
>>>Because some idiot parents overdosed their kids I can no longer buy these products? Are you **cking kidding me! Here’s a novel idea - prosecute the parents who showed negligence in caring for their child. Oh wait that involves accountability! Silly me!
bump
Yup.
Too many parents using the OTCs as an easy out. They are irresponsible so now we have to pay for an office visit.
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