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About Us
- UTAPharm11
- We are pre-nursing students at UTA, currently exploring Pharmacology! The purpose of our blog is to elicit intelligent responses to the question, "Cough and cold medications in children - why is it a big deal?"
11 comments:
Over 7,000 children end up in an emergency room every year because of cold and cough meds, per the CDC. I would definitely consider them an authority on this particular topic.
To the co./individuals who are benefitting (monetary) is probably an issue at the bottom of their "might care list".!!!!!!!!!
All i can say is what does not kill them only makes them stronger. I was given cough medicine and all it did was leave a nasty after taste.
After researching this topic I am convinced that your average responsible parent is capable of medicating their child when they are struck with a cold or flu. According to the CDC approximately 7000 children ages 11 or younger have found themselves in an emergency rooms due to taking an OTC cold medication. They state this on their website, but what they didn't state is "why" these children were in the hospital. It doesn't state this was the "Main" cause of their hospital visit, it could have been that the childs symptoms weren't relieved by the medication so the parent saught medical advise. Sadly, the CDC did state that in children under the ages of 2 to 5 have been linked to deaths due to an overdose of OTC medications, yet again they put a general blanket on the issue and don't give any statistical facts on this(mainly how many). Makes you question the actual facts of these claimed problems with OTC medications for children ie..over what time span were the numbers looked at, how large of the population was pooled,what was the education level of the parents? These are important questions that are relevant to the topic that were not addressed.
One article I did find from the American Academy of Pediactrics did offer more statistical information to back their claims. The link to the website if you wish to take a look at the article is, http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/peds.2007-3638v2
I think the information they offer in regards to overdose and potential dangers are note worthy, but don't persuade me into not giving my children cold medicine.
Another article from the MayoClinic which can be found at http://mayoclinc.com/health/cold-medicines/CC00083 again raises the concern in chilren regarding OTC cold medications. All three of these articles claim, that children 2 and under are at the most risk. They also claim that these drugs were not tested on children, but only "scaled down" in dose for a child. Which, is common practice in the pharmaceutical industry. They don't initially conduct tests on a specific age group, but rather they apply the drug to an age group at a much lower dose. These doses are calculated for an average body weight for a child that age, and then scaled a bit further back to accomodate for +/- differences. What we also learned in Pharmacology is that not everyone reacts to a medication the same way. There may be underlying genetic reasons that these children are having adverse reactions to a medication. My nephew for example, he can't take a lot of OTC medications because he is allergic to almost everything. A parent needs to know what their child has adverse reactions to and if they don't know, then it is their obligation to consult a physician in order to determine their allergies.
Though, what it really boils down to, is the drug isn't to blame for these unnecessary deaths in children. In all actuality it is ultimately the parent's fault.
Over the counter drugs are designed not to cure the illness but to offer relief from the symptoms. Often a parent will dose their child, and when there seems to be no relief from these symptoms they will often re-dose. This is where the children are put at risk. The parent needs to read the instructions and understand how to properly administer these medications. When a bottle says. "Do not give more than 6 doses in a 24 hour period"( as Robitussin Cough & Cold recommends),or "Do not give more than 5 doses in a 24 hour period" (as Dimetapp Nightime Flu recommends) that means DONT DO IT! They also go into even more specifics that if after 5 days the person taking the medication gets worse, stop giving the OTC medication and seek doctor supervision. Yet, they go even further and list side effects as in Dimetapp of: dizziness, pain, sleeplessness, a fever gets worse, etc.... that warns there might be something more severe then the common cold going on and to consult a physician. With all of the warnings and side-effects,and precautions listed on the bottle, a parent can administer the medication appropriately to the child. It is not rocket science, there are written guidelines on the bottles; all one has to do is simply read the label!
The main reason this is a hot topic is the mere fact children are involved. The United States has one of the highest infant/child mortality rates in a developed country. We as a society try to change this fact by examining our medical processes when it concerns children. Though with this topic, the CDC is placing blame on the drugs themselves instead of where it belongs which is on the parent. This is mainly due to no one wanting to feel responsible for the death of their child, so they conviently place blame on a medication so they can sleep at night.
Sandra Day O'Connor (Supreme Ct Justice) said, "Children do not belong to parents but do belong to 'the State'." In light of the ever-increasing intrusion of government agencies into the space between parents and children--I find this entire debate chilling. Of the MILLIONS of doses of cold/flu remedies given to children the world over and now we (Americans)are being told that we-as parents-are too stupid to handle our childrens' minor medications???? And the debate is tagged with the highly emotionally charged line "Please don't kill the kids"!!!!!!!!
This is a set-up by one or another facet of this society to maneuver themselves into a position of having more authority over children for some ulterior motive. Either the medical community wants more parents running to the doctors with the kid's sniffles--to pad doctors' wallets or-----to further drive a wedge between parents rights and childrens' legal status. Knowing Ms O'Connor's take on the issue of children I'd say the latter.
Parents beware of the right you give up today!--You'll regret it tommorrow--Do NOT be manipulated by such lines as "Please don't kill the kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Spoken like a true conspiracy-theorist! Contrary to your obvious opinion, NOT EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET YOU or 'drive a wedge' between you and Jr. As a matter of fact, I'd wager that this wasn't even about YOU! It's about America's children being placed in harm's way because of arrogant, ignorant parents that can't/won't acknowledge that other professionals may have a bit more medical expertise concerning these DRUGS, and are, in fact, placing the child's best interest before their own. Whoa what a concept! To think that out of sheer contempt for the 'Man' (or S.D. O'Connor in this case), a parent would endanger their child, then exclaim "So what, he's mine!", hovers right around criminal.
It takes a villiage huh? Nice name and concept, though it is hardly practiced today. Children are at no more risk today then they were when these drugs first came on the market. In years past parents used to medicate with home remedies and folk remedies....ie...terpentine for a sore throat. Those remedies I would be more afraid of then ones that have been approved for usage today. OTC counter drugs...like cold medications were once prescription drugs that the FDA approved for release to the population for self medication. What a concept, we are smart enough to read a label go figure. Children have been receiving the benefits from over the counter cold medications for years. Now out of the blue they claim that it is causing children to get sicker or die? Hmmmm, maybe we should look at why these children are having these effects instead of rushing to remove the medicines from the shelves. These medications didn't become a problem over night? A child didn't wake up one day with a cold, receive an OTC cold medication and spawn an epidemic amongst other children concerning these drugs. There is an underlying cause. Where the child is put at RISK is when the parent doesn't follow the directions on the bottle (ie..overdosing) or doesn't know medications that cause adverse reactions in their child. It isn't the drugs fault here, like other's on this blog have said, " They were given cold medicine as a child and it didn't kill them". We have to ask WHY is it now all of a sudden become an issue. The issue is plain and simple PARENTAL ERROR. Parents are looking to blame someone other than themselves. Even in a case that was on CNN, a parent took the advice of a MEDICAL Doctor and gave their child the cold medication and the child still died. That doesn't show anyone having more medical knowledge than the parent when even a Doctor gets it wrong. I would almost bet the farm that the child had some sort of allergy to the medication that was unkown and that is the REAL reason he died. Once a medication enters our bodies we have no clue how it is going to react until it does just that.
Anything that you types do not like is labelled "Comspiracy theory"--when you cannot come up with a FACTUAL basis for your argument---all you can do is lamely attempt to discredit opponents with that stoooopid label.
And you're right--its not about me--its about American parental rights to handle MINOR medical care for their children without the dubious benefit of the officially sanctioned "Priest"--Medicine Man--ie "Doctor."
And NO parent, "out of sheer contempt" for anyone or anything is moved to arrogantly medicate their child(ren).
Parents are moved, however, by the misery fever puts in a child's face, congested breathing, and nasal congestion which is EASILY remedied MILLIONS of times by RESPONSIBLE parents. It seems that you are stating that ONLY irresponsible parents DARE to ARROGANTLY assume they have any remote capacity to take care of their own childrens' sniffles. So like the medical community too treat parents AND PATIENTS like they are all just too stupid to HAVE a body!
When you say that someone in the medical field is placing the child's interests above their own--you're wrong--they are getting a paycheck for that care--that is NOT above their own interests--we Americans are treated like "cash cows" in amedical "industry" that gets greedier every year. RESPONSIBLE PARENTS are NOT acting out of their OWN interests when they use appropriate doseages of Over-the-Counter medications to alleviate their children's discomfort. It is an inethically convoluted argument based on disinformation and doublespeak to suggest that parents are only serbing htemselves by making a sick child more comfortable with approved methods.
AND...what IS criminal is your push to do away with all Americans' Constitutional Rights to APPROPRIATELY take care of their own children.
When it comes to placing bets, I'll wager that you do not have the faintest of ideas even about how far-ranging the effects of such restrictions, you seem to advocate, could be. It is not only some vague absent unrecognizeable American's rights you are advocating removing--it is YOUR rights you are so glibly tossing aside as well--and your childrens' rights and their childrens'. THINK before you act!
I remember, as a child hearing how the use of over-the-counter cold/flu medications by parents would alleviate the revolving door in Doctor's offices for indignificant sniffles etc... You would want that back? Mrs Jones has "Timmy" back in for an EXPENSIVE Doctor's visit for a "stuffy nose"??????????
GET REAL!
Not only do you have NO argument--you KNOW you don't, so all you can do is use emotional epithets attempting to manipulate the reactions of those who really don't want to "kill the kids!"--but DO want to give them an aspirin to take the fever down or make a stuffy nose go away--are you REALLY so willing to give up YOUR rights so easily?????? If you are--then YOU are "out to get me"---lol! Conspiracy proven!--lol
Don't BE such a good argument against your own position--okay?
Ladyw8tn...
I appreciate your passion, however misdirected. It illustrates the importance of this topic! What we could do without is the quixotic nature of your argument. I'm sure no one is coming to take your parental rights away...No one is saying that you absolutely CANNOT administer what you feel are 'minor' medications to your children. (Side note-forget the aspirin for a child's fever, try Tylenol--ever heard of Reye's syndrome?) I don't recall anyone attempting to denigrate YOUR PERSONAL parental capacities, or lack thereof...Don't overlook that in all your pretention.
What is SUGGESTED, however, is that parents, caregivers, and anyone involved in the lives of children to simply BE CAREFUL and PROACTIVE in your knowledge of medication that you intend to dispense. If this suggestion somehow puts you on the defensive as if the implication is 'You're Stoooopid!', then that may be something you need to work out internally.
I, for one, am pleased to see that this subject generating such buzz, and that a substantial level of awareness is growing. To be completely honest, I would be delighted to spend days poking holes in your subjectivity, and emotionally flawed rebuts, but I am willing to forego myself that simple pleasure, in order to maintain the integrity of the student's blog!
I will share with you a personal experience with a Pediatrician that was not merely 'out to line her pockets'. The 'misery' in my child's face prompted the visit. Just as I suspected, a plain-ole' ordinary cold. Ultimately, the Dr. refused to prescribe any medication for her and suggested that I let it run its course - in this case-RISK OUTWEIGHED BENEFIT (Do you ask yourself that when you give your kids meds?). She got over it in less than a week. I was embarrassed that I had to be told not to risk my child's well-being just to dry up a little mucous!
The moral of the story is-Do not chop down the entire tree just to get that apple at the top--wait until it falls!
To call a suggestion to place your child's well-being paramount, somehow a question of 'Your Rights' or mental capacites, in my opinion, is the epitome of selfish and insecure behavior. PLEASE DON'T KILL THE KIDS!
having a child does not automatically make you a responsible adult unfortunately. all medications should be researched before being administered to a child including prescriptions. children are vulnerable to our discrection and the least we can do is understand that it only takes one, just one, mistake to create a fatal outcome
1. My "passion" is borne of a lifetime of watching America's attention be "misdirected" off of an issue which is of great importance onto an emotionally charged tangent of no real significance to them.
2. Don Quixote was borne of an idealism that questioned where his society was headed--and he objected in his own way. Again you make my point FOR me. Was Don Quixote "wrong.?"
3. Are you REALLY so sure that Americans' parental rights are not in danger of being severely limited? How would you know that? Basically, I understand you must tow the party-line as it were but is your finger on the pulse of the legal movements in this society which question a parent's ability and right to parent their own chidren? Case in point--right to administer childrens' OTC medication. Such movements in this society are almost never direct--the "powers that be" do an "end run" around the real point of the intended changes.
4. Yes, I've heard of Reye's Syndrome from the use of Aspirin. Have you heard about the cumulative adverse effects of acetaminophen on the liver and other organs?
5. You didn't outright denigrate my parental capacities--or lack thereof--however, the whole implication of this topic is that parents (generally) are too "stooopid" to manage to appropriately dose their children with OTC cold/flu medication. You DID say that you doubted that the issue had anything to do specifically with ME which I addressed by saying that I basically agreed--except how it affected the rights of ALL American parents--including those of our/my progeny.
6. New parents in hospitals are "trained" in so many ways (its amazing how much they can work into a few hours) before they leave the hospital with their new babies--I'm sure that they can be carefully taught about the huge significance of OTC medications and how careful they must be. If the new parents are intelligent enough to take their baby home then they are not too "Stoopid" to take care of sniffles. A baby that cannot breathe nasally cannot nurse--from bottle or breast. That can start a downward spiral which can endanger the baby's life--malnourishment, dehydration, lack of appetite--death--all from NOT giving OTC medication.
7. Thank-you SO much for your self-restraint and patience with me. My emotionally-flawed arguments are directed to the "objective" RIGHTS of ALL American parents--not the anecdotal subjectivism of a MINOR sampling of some obscure subset which is not even clarified in the medical/scientific community--nor is my case based in any way on my own experiences as a parent.
8. As the holder of a BA degree major in Psychology with a minor in Political Science, and having experience as a Social Worker in Foster Care, I am well-aware of the erosion of parental rights in this country. AND---in Poli-Sci 101, my class started right out with the discussion of the methods and manners in which societies have the very limited choices of to maintain "control" of their society. AND....when the White Anglo Saxon Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish use of guilt was eschewed by this society, then only remainder was the use of "fear." Thus you are afraid to be seen as ascribing to my factually-based "objective" and academically "frosh" argument.
8&1/2. As a Psych major, I learned well how SO MANY Psychological methods are used both microcosmically and macrocosmally in ALL facets of our society--and found it alarming!
9. As to your personal experience--even though it IS anecdotal and quite "subjective"--you AGAIN make my argument FOR me. That Doctor was afraid (fear) to prescribe any medication--because of her Malpractice Insurance--she was likely "discouraged" to prescribe any medication. But ask your poor daughter how SHE felt!
10. Climb that tree and GET that apple!
11. To follow the "party-line" above all rational good-sense is--in your own words--- in my opinion, is the epitome of selfish and insecure behavior.
12. Please don't kill the kids--but please don't let them suffer unnecessarily either!
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