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The safety of infants and toddlers was the Story of the Day as the pharmaceutical industry pulled cold-and-cough medicines marketed over-the-counter for use by babies from store shelves. The products, from brands such as Dimetapp, PediaCare, Robitussin and Triaminic, were not only unproven to be effective at relieving symptoms, they were potentially harmful. Overdoses may have killed some 120 babies over the past three decades: 50 from decongestants; 70 from antihistamines. ABC and NBC both led with the voluntary recall. CBS, which led with a local story from Cleveland yesterday, chose a second troubled teenager for its lead: a 14-year-old boy in suburban Philadelphia was found with an arsenal of weapons in his bedroom.

The questions over the safety of the cold-and-cough syrups have been in the news since March. ABC's Lisa Stark (subscription required) gave credit to Dr Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's Commissioner of Public Health, for first raising the red flag. NBC's Robert Bazell pointed out that this recall is voluntary, with Big Pharma emphasizing that "they are acting out of an abundance of caution." CBS' Wyatt Andrews offered a possible motive: next week, the Food & Drug Administration will consider "banning these medicines for children under six. Consumer groups say the industry is giving up the infant market in order to keep the under-six market."

ABC's in-house physician Timothy Johnson (no link) stated that saline nose drops, humidifiers and additional fluids are all most babies need to treat a cold: "Most kids get better because of time." In the case of fever or pain he suggested a "single ingredient product" instead of these withdrawn multi-symptom brands. Tylenol and Motrin were his choices. If the FDA does ban the syrups for all preschoolers "that would be a huge step--because that is a big market."

Andrew Tyndall 10/15/07 2:45:24 pm

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