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Ditch Cold Meds for Tots: FDA

Posted Jan 17, 08 6:04 AM CST in US,  Science & Health    Most Covered

(Newser) – Although cold and cough medicine manufacturers pulled their baby and toddler lines off the shelves in October, the FDA is issuing an official advisory today to warn parents of the risk of giving any such remedies to children under 2. The government worries that uninformed parents are simply dosing their sniffly little ones with old medicines still in their home or products aimed at older kids, AP reports.

The FDA announced last fall that cold meds don't actually benefit toddlers, and should be avoided even for any children younger than 6 for fear of rare but "serious and potentially life-threatening side effects." Another official advisory on the riskiness of medicating older children is expected by spring. In the meantime, the prescription seems to be bed rest and liquids.

Source Associated Press

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Mother Carleen Ho holds a bottle of Concentrated Tylenol Infants' Drops Plus Cold & Cough in front of her daughter, Rachel Ho, who is under two years old, at their home in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday,...   (Associated Press)
Pedia Care Infant Drops Long-Acting Cough and Concentrated Tylenol Infants' Drops Plus Cold & Cough are shown in a medicine cabinet at the home of Carol Uyeno in Palo Alto, Calif., in this Oct. 11, 2007...   (Associated Press)
Mother Carleen Ho holds a bottle of Concentrated Tylenol Infants' Drops Plus Cold & Cough in front of her daughter, Rachel Ho, who is under two years old, at their home in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday,...   (Associated Press)
Concentrated Tylenol Infants' Drops Plus Cold & Cough box is shown at a home in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. Drug makers on Thursday voluntarily pulled kids' cold medicines off the market...   (Associated Press)
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FDA  • babies  • overdose  • cold medicine  • infants  • cough medicine


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