 News
27th March 2008
Cough medicines
banned for under-2sCough and cold remedies for children under two
are to be pulled from the shelves immediately amid safety fears. At least
100 products will be put under the counter as parents are warned about the danger
of giving toddlers potentially fatal overdoses. The dramatic move means
popular medicines will effectively be banned for any youngster under the age of
two and parents of all children up to six will have to ask for them. It
could signal a return to old-fashioned remedies such as honey and lemon drinks.
Best-selling brands affected include Tixylix, Robitussin, Benylin and Calpol.
The alert centres on 12 ingredients in the medicines, many of which have
been used by drug firms for years. At least five deaths of British children
under two have been linked to cough and cold remedies and more than 100 serious
cases of suspected adverse reactions have been reported.
Today, six products directly targeted at children under two will be
removed from open sale, although they may still be supplied by a pharmacist
for use with older children.
They are:
- Boots Chesty Cough Syrup 1 Year Plus
- Boots Sore Throat and Cough Linctus one-year plus
- Asda Children's Chesty Cough Syrup
- Buttercup Infant Cough syrup
- Calcough Chesty
- Bell's Children's Chesty cough
Another 59 products (click here for a full
list) - authorised for use in children under two but not marketed
at them - will also be taken off the shelf and sold only to parents whose
children are older.
A further 58 products aimed only at children
aged two to six will also be taken down. Anyone buying any of the 117 products
will be instructed on the exact dose they should give. In the long term,
manufacturers will re-label and re-package them so they can go back on normal
sale. In a simultaneous move, parents will be told to use temperature-lowering
drugs such as paracetamol or ibuprofen to treat babies and toddlers suffering
cold symptoms. They will also be advised to use a simple cough syrup such
as glycerol, honey or lemon, with vapour rubs for a stuffy nose. Parents
of children under two who have any of the affected products at home will be advised
to take them to a pharmacist or back to where they bought them. Those with
children between two and six are being urged to seek advice before using the products.
The updated advice comes from the drug safety watchdog, the Commission
on Human Medicines. None of the remedies has been shown to be dangerous when used
correctly. But there has been growing concern that parents may unwittingly
give children too much, because they either miscalculate the dose or use additional
doses to ensure the medicine works. Mixing different products can also lead to
an overdose if they contain the same ingredient. Children under two are
at greatest risk simply because they are smaller. Last year the American
College of Chest Physicians said cough mixtures were of little use to adults and
could harm children. Research by U.S. doctors showed that plain honey was
better than many expensive medicines. Professor Rosalind Smyth, chairman
of the CHM paediatric medicines expert advisory group, said last night: "Coughs
and colds are generally self-limiting conditions which will get better themselves,
usually within a few days. "The management of symptoms in the under-twos
is best achieved with treatment to control fever - ibuprofen or paracetamol -
together with simple cough mixtures." Cambridgeshire GP Dr David Haslam
said parents should not panic. He said: "This is about removing potential risk.
"The problem with combination products is that children get a potentially
toxic cocktail of ingredients. "It's safer to use the tried and tested
remedies of paracetamol and ibuprofen. "We know how they work and what
the side effects are." The ingredients that will no longer be licensed
for children under two are the antihistamines brompheniramine, chlorphenamine
and diphenhydramine; cough suppressants dextrometorphan and pholcodine; expectorants
guaifenesin and ipecacuanha and decongestants phenylephrine, pseudoephedrine,
ephedrine, oxymetazoline and xylometazoline. The Proprietary Association
of Great Britain, which represents medicine makers, is launching an information
campaign with leaflets in pharmacies and other shops.
>>CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF AFFECTED
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