Posted on 10/14/2007 8:53:45 PM PDT by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 — Major makers of over-the-counter infant cough and cold medicines announced Thursday that they were withdrawing their products from the market for fear that they could be misused.
The voluntary withdrawal, already under way, affects only products labeled for use in infants, not for use in children 2 and older. And some small companies could continue selling infant products. More changes, perhaps mandated by federal drug regulators, could be in the offing.
The withdrawal comes two weeks after safety reviewers within the Food and Drug Administration urged the agency to consider an outright ban of over-the-counter cough and cold products for children under 6. Even the industry’s main trade group, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, recommended two weeks ago that the products not be used in infants.
Despite the recommendation, giant drug makers like Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth and Novartis continued to sell cough and cold products labeled for infants. Last week, Representative Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to the industry’s trade association asking why the products were still being sold.
Until Thursday, industry representatives answered that they were discussing the issue with the F.D.A. and defended their medicines as safe and effective.
“The reason the makers of over-the-counter oral cough and cold medicine for infants are withdrawing these medicines is that there have been rare patterns of misuse leading to overdose recently identified, particularly in infants,” said Linda A. Suydam, president of the trade association.
“Safety is our top...,”
--snip--
Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, criticized the drug agency for a delayed withdrawal.
“The F.D.A. should be first to act to ensure consumer safety rather than leaving families to rely on the industry itself,” Mr. Schumer said...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Shameless Schumer schleps into yet another issue.
However, I had the "baby drops" rather than the liquid. After measuring out the amount he listed, I looked at it in comparison to the bottle size and thought, "that can't be right."
Of course it wasn't. Upon reading the bottle, I realized she would receive only a portion of a dropperful at her age and weight.
Could I have accidentally poisoned my child? Yep. But even in my sleep deprived, first time nervous mommy state I was smart enough to give her what she needed and no more.
We were lucky with her - she was generally very healthy. When the twins came along, they seemed to be prone to horrible coughs and colds from a very early age. I don't know how I would have survived without those baby cold medicines.
At 13 they still have problems when they get a cold and spend many nights coughing continually. We had found that a 1/2 dose of Nyquil or similar would at least let them sleep. But guess what? Now that it's been "reformulated" --they took out the alcohol and changed the decongestant it no longer works as well. (Yes, I'm a bad mommy--I gave my kids cold medicine with alcohol)
Perhaps sleepless parents should call their legislators - at 3 a.m. to give them a taste of what their nannying ways really accomplish.
Good morning, perhaps you could evaluate the use of "Theraflu" for your children. Their decongestant is excellent and clears you up enough to breath and get to sleep. Again, don't know the quantity for children out of an adult dosage. There is daytime and nighttime available. Perhaps you could work out the right amount or talk to your doctor.
My daughter has only had one illness bad enough to wake her up. It was an earache. We used "Similasan" earache remedy and her pain was GONE in under a minute and she went right to sleep. That's one herbal OTC remedy that I consider a miracle cure.
We used to give our baby a tablespoon of bourbon mixed with honey. That remedy was suggested by my mother.
Now you can expect parents to feed their children partial doses of adult cold remedys.
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