Despite government warnings, a majority of parents of children age 2 and younger are continuing to give them over-the counter cough and cold medications, a new survey by University of Michigan researchers shows.
After research linked the over-the-counter medicines to hundreds of cases of poisonings and even deaths among small children, the Food and Drug Administration said in 2008 that those products should not be given to the 2-and-under age group. But a national poll of more than 300 parents found that 61 percent have done so within the past 12 months.
Of those parents, 57 percent said their children’s health care providers indicated that the medicines were safe.
“Further work is needed to verify that child health care providers understand FDA warnings about OTC cough and cold medicines, and to ensure that health care providers are giving parents clear and consistent messages about these medicines’ safety and effectiveness,” concludes the survey.
Researchers also found higher usage of the medicines among black (80 percent) and Hispanic (69 percent) parents than among white parents (57 percent). Usage was highest in families with an annual income of less than $30,000 and lowest in families with income of more than $100,000.
Poll director Dr. Matthew Davis of the University of Michigan Medical School said the data highlight the need for continuing education of parents. “The FDA warning is specific to young children, age 2 and under, but parents of those kids may not have heard the warnings issued more than two years ago,” he told USA Today. “Each year a ‘new generation’ of parents must be educated about a wide variety of health care issues for their children.”
