Canada Says Don't Give Kids Cold Medicine
Citing overdoses, misuse and limited evidence that cold medicines even work in children, Canadian health officials have urged parents not to give over-the-counter cold remedies to kids under the age of 6, expanding their original recommendation of 2 years of age; Reuters reports.
Last year, U.S. retailers scrambled to pull cold remedies out of stores after the government warned of their potential health risks to infants and the Food and Drug Administration contemplated an outright ban on children’s cold medicine, but later rejected the proposal.
Dr. Fuhrman doubts cold remedies, pointing to a study in Journal of Pediatrics showing that in a head-to-head comparison, placebo and cough medicine had the same effect. All kids improved after 3 days, with no difference in symptoms between the placebo group and medicine group.
It’s a cold, ordinary sniffles. Do we really need medicine for that!