COUGH SYRUPS FOUND RISKY FOR KIDS
The next time your child sneezes and wheezes, don’t reach
out for cough syrup bottle and tea-spoon. It not only doesn’t always work, chances are it could be dangerous for the kid. Talk to a doctor Instead.
Though cough and cold remedies have been widely prescribed and routinely used by parents without consulting a doctor, medical experts now say these have serious side-
effects and could be even lethal in certain cases
After months of debate, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory warning parents against giving over the counter(OTC)cold and cough
medicines to children under 2 years, because of ”serious and potentially life-threatening side effects”. Some doctors and the pharmaceutical industry experts, however, say low doses aren’t harmful but acknowledge overdose has serious side effects. Also decongestants mainly target symptoms, while the cause of the problem remains.
Some side-effects which should be looked out for; doctors say, are drying of the mouth, stomach problems and changes in heart rates and blood pressure. Doctors say the FDA warning should be taken seriously in India because there are few controls on the sale of medicines and most, including cough syrups are available without prescriptions.
There are some 200-300 cough and cold medicines in the market including Benadryl, Cinaryl, Corex, Chericof, Cosome, Deletes, Tixylix, Zeet Expectorant.
Companies say that FDA advisory may not have much of an impact on them. “Our label clearly says that it should not be given to children below 2 years. We do not sell paediatric cough formulations in India,” says AnilNayak, director of Johnson & Johnson, which manufactures Benadryl cough syrup. “We have cases where serious side-effects in tiny tots have occurred due to misuse and overuse of cough and cold drugs.