Kids' cold medicine under scrutiny
The FDA is meeting with an advisory panel about problems with children's cold medicines. Some companies have pulled products off the shelves, but that only amounts to a small fraction of the market. Jeff Tyler reports.
Little Colds cold and cough medicine, among the popular medicines mentioned in an FDA advisory. (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
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Scott Jagow: We've been hearing a lot lately about problems with children's cold medicines. Today, the Food and Drug Administration will ask an advisory panel for some input. Drug companies could be forced to pull some medicine off the shelves. Jeff Tyler reports.
Jeff Tyler: Some of the biggest drug companies have already volunteered to stop selling cold medicines designed for infants.
But Peter Lurie with the watchdog group Public Citizen says it's just a minor sacrifice.
Peter Lurie The companies have agreed to take the zero to two-years-old products off the market, because they're trying to save the larger market. Zero to two represents a small fraction of all the cough and cold medication sold in America today.
Will the move sway FDA decision makers? No, says the FDA's Joel Schiffenbauer:
Joel Schiffenbauer: The actions taken by individual companies will not influence the questions and concerns that we raise with the committee.
In addition to safety, there's also a big question about whether kids' cold medicines are effective.
Again, Peter Lurie:
Lurie: When a product doesn't work, no amount of risk is acceptable.
Each year, bad reactions to cold medicines send hundreds of kids to emergency rooms.
I'm Jeff Tyler for Marketplace.
