September 29, 2007 | Health, News
The FDA released a new recommendation yesterday that children under 2 not be given decongestants and children under 6 not be given antihistamines. They want to remove the caution on the labels that says “Consult your physician” for ages under x. Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore’s health commissioner says, “It does not make sense, in the absence of information, to say ’consult a physician,’ because they do not have superhuman powers. They cannot make a product safe or effective.”
There are two problems at hand. One is that these medications have not been proven effective for the ages above, and secondly, they have been associated with childhood death in some instances. The specific active ingredients to be concerned about are:
Decongestant (not for use <2) Antihistamine (not for use <6)
pseudoephedrine diphenhydramine
phenylephrine brompheniramine
ephedrine chlorpheniramine
I just found that the cough and cold medicine I gave my 3-year old daughter this morning has chlorpheniramine in it, and the medication I gave her last night has diphenhydramine in it. We’ll be ditching those until she’s six. You can find the full story at MSNBC or you can search the FDA site for more information.
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