Have you been administering the over the counter cough meds to your toddlers, when they are sick? Well, be careful. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) has recently banned the over the counter cold/cough medicines for toddlers.
This is because the FDA found out that 54 people have been killed from decongestants. Most of these deaths were children under age of 2, which is unacceptable.
In a recent safety measure, the FDA instructed the pharmacies and drug manufacturers to remove all the meds from the market.
The agency also advised that the size of droppers, cups and syringes be standardized. Once the size is standardized, there won’t be any more confusion or overdose, for that matter. I think this is a very smart move on FDA’s part.
However, for some toddlers it’s going to be a long and a congested winter. Besides the ban on cough syrups and meds, the drug agency will be crackdown the narcotic hydrocodone.
This particular chemical is used as a painkiller as well as a cough suppressant. Currently, there are about 800 different congestants in the market.
Besides imposing the ban, the drug administration agency did approve seven different cough meds. for kids.
According to the report, parents are often misled by pictures of young children on the drug packaging, thinking that those cough meds are meant for the toddlers.
Due to this, about 1500 toddlers end up in ER. Sadly, there are no recommendations on what parents can safely use for their children. Hopefully, FDA will find this solution soon enough.
Image Credit: Babble
