Cough Medicine

In a similar vein to my posts yesterday and today about The Cure for What Ails Ya, I saw this article today on Mark’s Daily Apple: Cough Drugs for Kids Spark Concern

The FDA said Friday it had 54 reports of deaths in children linked to decongestants containing the ingredients pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine and ephedrine from 1969 to Sept. 13, 2006, and 69 reports of deaths linked to antihistamines with the ingredients diphenhydramine, brompheniramine and chlorpheniramine. The agency said the bulk of the reports were in children younger than 2. Also, a number of the deaths occurred in children who had gotten overdoses.
….
In a letter that also became public Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that the medications’ labels should note that they have “been shown to be ineffective” in children younger than 6, and that “serious adverse reactions, including but not limited to death, have been reported.” A group representing drug makers, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, in a statement made public Friday said the drugs should be labeled against use in children younger than 2.

The article goes on to point out what the different drug makers are doing to change their marketing since they like to target the under-6 crowd with their many formulations. Johnson and Johnson, which typically tries to do the ethical thing (see Tylenol recall), is going to inform pediatricians and parents not to use the products in children under 2 years old. Wyeth, on the other hand, says it will “hold off on any changes to our marketing efforts until we receive appropriate guidance” from the FDA and its advisers, i.e., it will continue selling as it has been until it is forced to change.

Mark makes a nice comment at the end of his post that I can’t top, so I’ll just post it verbatim [emphasis mine]:

It’s far safer, and probably better anyway, to treat your children’s cold discomfort with natural methods. Menthol rubs, humidifiers, hot water bottles, ice packs, chicken noodle soup or broth, seltzer water, and rest are all helpful. While it�s not pleasant to see your child feeling miserable, remember that occasional colds are helping to build your child’s immune system. A “cold” is really the collection of symptoms that indicate the body is doing exactly what it�s supposed to do. Unless a cold persists beyond a week - or if symptoms are really severe - you can probably forgo the drugs. If you are really concerned, call the pediatrician, of course.

People have managed for ages with natural remedies. Believe it or not, humans evolved in a time before cough medicines and decongestants.


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