FDA: Cold, cough medications not safe for children

Recent discussions over what age is safe for over-the-counter medications put pediatricians and the FDA on the same side. The FDA now says cold and cough medications shouldn’t be given to children younger than six.

The division is between children’s doctors and the drug companies.

Friday the FDA sided with pediatricians across the country who say the medications don’t help.

Government health advisors ruled that over the counter cough and cold medicines should not be given to children under the age of six.

Daniel Manello gave his son Dimetapp on his doctor’s recommendation on and off for six months.

Manello said, “Several months later my son was taken by the ambulance to the emergency room and was diagnosed to have seizures not the flu.”

Parents spend millions annually on decongestants and antihistamines for their children. Nearly four million doses were sold last year.

Drug companies say they are 100 percent safe if the proper dosage is applied.

These medicines have never been tested on kids. They have been linked to 123 deaths since 1969, most of them infants.

Pediatrician David Bromberg said, “Drugs used in children need to be studied in children, I think that is the simple, clear message.”

The drug industry says that’s why it voluntarily pulled the medications for children under two last week.

Doctors are recommending they be pulled for children under the age of 12.