FDA Advisers: No Cold Meds for the Young

Concentrated Tylenol Infants' Drops Plus Cold & Cough, right, and Pedia Care Infant Drops Long-Acting Cough, left, is shown in a medicine cabinet of the home of Carol Uyeno in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. Cold Drug makers voluntarily 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. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

(AP) -- Cold and cough medicines don't work in children and shouldn't be used in those younger than 6, federal health advisers recommended Friday.

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Posted by LearmSceince 10/19/07 16:37

Rank: 4.5/5 after 2 votes

"The data that we have now is they don't seem to work,"

That doesn't stop lots of people from selling pills and tonics and devices.

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Posted by MikeMarianiMD,FAAP 10/19/07 19:18

Rank: 5/5 after 2 votes

It has been apparent for many years that these medications do not work. Adults are unlikely to experience significant adverse effects. Adults also consume alcohol & smoke cigarettes--behaviors clearly associated with fatal complications.
I always discourage my patients from using them in children.

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Posted by fleem 10/20/07 11:42

Not rated yet.

Really gives you a warm fuzzy in the reliability of modern "science". Please understand, I put quotes around the word to make clear that true science really is a good thing. Oh well, at least we have true science in all the human-induced global warming crowd.... *cough*.