Infant cold medicines pulled off market
Drug makers pulled cold medicines targeted for babies and toddlers off the market Oct 11th. The decision represented a pre-emptive strike by over-the-counter drug manufacturers prior to government advisers debate over the medicines' fate. It doesn't end concern about the safety of these drugs for children. The withdrawal includes medicines aimed at children under age 2. 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, the Maryland chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and prominent pediatricians around the country filed a petition with the FDA 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 over promise relief. The challenge will be to convince parents to try old-fashioned methods, like suctioning out infants' noses or using salt-water nose drops.
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