Cough, cold medicines could kill your child

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: cough medicines, children, health news

(NaturalNews) Since 2007 when drug manufacturers agreed to withdraw from the market over-the-counter cough and cold medicine products sold for children under two, emergency rooms have seen 50 percent less visits from injured or killed babies and toddlers. But these medicines are still being sold for older children, even though they are highly dangerous and many parents continue to ignorantly give them to their younger children under the false impression that they are safe.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), safety concerns prompted the companies to withdraw such products branded specifically for younger children. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had put out a warning that cough and cold medicines invoke "serious and potentially life-threatening side effects," even when used according to instructions.

But none of that prompted the agency to actually withdraw the offending medicines from the market. They simply encouraged manufacturers to update use and safety labels to says that the products are not safe to use in children under the age of two years old. But after studies showed that the products were dangerous even in older children, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association updated labels again in 2008 warning parents to only administer the medicines to children over age four.

However in 2009, the U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a warning that cough and cold medicines are actually not safe for children under six years old, either. In fact, the agency even implied that the medicines are largely useless altogether because cough and cold symptoms will generally go away naturally in the same amount of time, regardless of whether or not such medicines are used (https://www.naturalnews.com/026269_medicines_...).

To learn more about the dangers of cough and cold medicines, why they do not work, and how you can prevent and treat colds naturally, visit: https://www.naturalnews.com/cold_medicines.ht...

Sources for this story include:

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-f...