CDC Issues Warning to Parents

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning parents not to give common over-the-counter cold remedies to children under 2 years old without consulting a doctor. Over a two-year period, over 1500 pediatric patients were treated in emergency rooms because of reactions to cough or cold medication. At least three of those patients died.

In 2005, an investigation into the deaths showed that the children's parents had given them up to 14 times the recommended dose of pseudoephedrine for children ages 2-12. Pseudoephedrine is a nasal decongestant, and currently, there are not any approved dosing recommendations by the FDA for children under two years old. Consequently, the CDC said it’s hard to determine how much cold or cough medication could cause illness or potential death

In 2006, the American College of Chest Physicians advised physicians not to recommend over the counter cough/cold medicines to parents because of the increased risks to pediatric patients. In 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised parents about the overdose potentials and risks associated with certain cough suppressants.

Dr. Michael Shannon, chief of emergency medicine at Children's Hospital Boston, said that especially in the winter, he often sees cases where toddlers have been given cough or cold medicine. "Pediatricians have for years, particularly for the last five years, been for the most part trying to dissuade parents from giving young children common cold preparations," Shannon said.

The director of pediatric pulmonology, allergy, and immunology at Maimonides Infants and Children's Hospital in New York, Dr. Michael Marcus, advises that the best thing parents can do when a child is sick is to simply give them "fluids, lots of kisses, and time. Many infections are viral and will pass in a few days." He goes on to say, "The medications have a greater potential for harm than the infections you are trying to treat."