Recent FDA statements, an impending meeting, and pharmaceutical recalls add up to a chilly forecast for infants and children's cough and cold medicinesAs flu season kicks in with the full force of winter, parents looking for cold medicines for sick infants won't find the usual selection in pharmacies. For children over 2, parents can still find an assortment of cough and cold medicines in stores, but these products may soon be gone as well.
The Food & Drug Administration will soon meet to discuss the safety and effectiveness of cold medicines for children under the age of 6. Children's cough and cold medicines have been sold over-the-counter in the U.S. for more than 40 years, but recent actions by an FDA advisory committee and pharmaceutical manufacturers have raised the issue of whether children's cough and cold medications are not only potentially dangerous because of possible misuse, but also ineffective. Rita Chappelle, a spokeswoman for the FDA, declined to give an exact date when the FDA will meet to discuss the children's medicines, saying only that it would happen in the next "couple of weeks."
Several pharmaceutical manufacturers have voluntarily recalled infant cold, cough, and congestion medicines, citing the dangers of overdosing. For now, the withdrawals apply only to medicines for children under the age of 2.
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