Children's Cough and Cold Medicines Under FDA Scrutiny

The New York Times reported Friday on the FDA's intensive review of kids' cough and cold medicines, the underlying theme being that many such medicines, in addition to being useless placebos, harken from an age where medicinal compounds received much less scrutiny, and may be dangerous to kids under the age of two. The Times writes:

Most cough and cold concoctions have nasal decongestants, antihistamines, cough suppressants or expectorants — common ingredients with names like dextromethorphan, guaifenesin and phenylephrine. Most of these drugs have been around for decades and were approved for sale by the F.D.A. when standards were far lower than they are today. Medicines were often approved with little or no testing before 1970 to ensure that they were safe or effective. Since then, the agency has gradually tightened standards and occasionally revisits old standards.

The agency has put all the compounds on a "monograph," meaning that manufacturers can use and combine them in pills and syrups without doing any of the expensive and lengthy studies that would be needed for a new drug. Because the drugs are so widely available, there is no incentive for manufacturers to perform such studies. Information about their lack of efficacy and worrisome side effects have trickled out.

Read the full article here.