Cough Syrup Could Harm Kids

13(C)/S/O Times OF India/New Delhi/18/01/08

Cough syrup could harm kids Rupali Mukherjee | TNN

New Delhi: The next time your child sneezes and wheezes, don’t reach out for the cough syrup bottle and a teaspoon. 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 even be lethal in certain cases. After months of debate, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory on Thursday warning parents against giving over-thecounter (OTC) cold and cough medicines to children under 2 years, because of ‘‘serious and potentially lifethreatening side effects’’. Some doctors and pharma 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 to watch out for are drying of the mouth, stomach problems and changes in heart rate and blood pressure. Doctors say the FDA warning should be taken seriously here as there are few controls on sale of medicines and most, including cough syrups, are available without prescription. There are some 200-300 cough and cold medicines in the market, including Benadryl, Cinaryl, Corex, Chericof, T-minic, Cosome, Deletus, Dristan Expectorant, Grilinctus, Phensydyl, Tixylix and Zeet Expectorant. Companies say the FDA advisory may not affect them much. ‘‘Our label clearly says it should not be given to children below two years. We do not sell paediatric cough formulations in India,’’ says Anil Nayak, director of Johnson & Johnson. ‘Cough syrup overdose can cause stroke’ New Delhi: After months of debate, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory on Thursday 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’’. 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 prescription. ‘‘We have cases where serious side-effects in tiny tots have occurred due to misuse and overuse of cough and cold drugs. Specifically for children, any dose which exceeds the prescribed limit can cause sedation, and occasionally be lethal,’’ says Dr Sanjeev Bagai of Rockland Hospital. ‘‘There are serious side-effects of medicines globally banned like phenyl propanolamine (PPA) that have been associated with causing cardio- vascular events, intraventricular haemorrhage and strokes,’’ he said. Agrees Dr C M Gulhati, editor of medical journal, MIMs. ‘‘There is hardly any scientific evidence to show the efficacy of cough and cold cures. Also, they contain dangerous ingredients such as PPA which is globally banned, and an overdose of which may lead to serious side-effects such as respiratory distress, drowsiness and stroke.’’ All cough is not treated with the same kind of medicine, as there are different ingredients for different causes, industry experts say, adding even doctors are prescribing these remedies. Though the advisory for tiny-tots has been issued, there is still a debate on whether these cough and cold cures should be given to children above two years of age.