Parents Warned Cough Medicines Imperil Infants

The FDA is hoping to halt the growing number of injuries to infants and toddlers by issuing an advisory warning to parents. The FDA advises partents to never give cough & cold medicines to children under the age of 2 unless instructed to do so by a doctor. The warning is part of a broad reassessment by the agency of the safety of the popular medications, which have been blamed for hundreds of adverse reactions & a handful of deaths in children under the age of 2. The FDA will convene a panel of independent experts on October 18 to discuss whether more prohibitions or wrnings are warranted. Such meetings often signal that the agency is seriously concerned about the safety of the drugs under review. The drugs' labels currently advise parents to see a doctor before giving the medicines if their child is under 2 years old, but too many parents are failing to heed this advice, the agency said.

REMEMBER: Always seek advice for proper dosing. Always use proper dosing equipment, oral syringes are best and most accurate. Always look or ask about ingredients, many cough/cold products both prescription and OTC have more than one ingredient.