Are we overdosing our children?

Cough and cold medicines prescribed for children under the age of six are not only ineffective but also carry the risk of death or injury.

Some of these medications such as Dimetapp and Pediacare have never been tested in children; data from studies of adults were simply extrapolated to correspond with the height and weight of children.

Dr. Robert S. Daun, a pediatrician with the University of Chicago Medical Center, called such medicines “a bewildering mess of complicated ingredients and combinations..."

"When a treatment is ineffective, its risks--if not zero--always will exceed its benefits," said Dr. Michael Shannon, a pediatrician with Children's Hospital in Boston and a professor at Harvard Medical School."

About 39 active ingredients are used in 800 cough and cold medicines for children. Several studies in recent years have consistently shown that the medicines have no effect on the symptoms of colds or coughs and a growing number of reports have found that they can be dangerous.

The FDA is waiting to consider a petition by a group of pediatricians to ban or limit the sale of over-the-counter cough and cold medications for children. Should be news on this tomorrow.

For perspectives on this issue, go to the report by The New York Times
And here's the Associated Press story.

Check with these sources as the news develops over the next couple of days.