Child cough cures to be pulled from stores

Over-the-counter cough medicines are to be pulled from supermarket shelves amid fears that they are dangerous for toddlers.

The industry regulator has ruled that common cough medicines aimed at young children should no longer be sold because of the potential to kill or cause illness.

Families will be advised to return to traditional cough and cold treatments, such as glycerol and honey

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) yesterday told health professionals and shopkeepers that they were no longer to sell six common cough products.

They include Boots Chesty Cough Syrup One Year Plus and Asda's Chesty Cough Syrup.

They will now be available only if supplied by a pharmacist to be used by older children.

The agency moved to ban certain decongestants, expectorants, cough suppressors and antihistamines, 12 "active ingredients" which manufacturers have been using for decades but which have potentially life-threatening side effects.

Around 50 further products currently authorised for toddlers will have to be relabelled to warn buyers that they are not suitable for children aged two or below.

advertisementManufacturers will have until October to comply. In the meantime, they will be only be sold to parents whose children are two or older. Last night an MHRA spokesman said that parents who have been giving the banned products to their children had no need to panic.

She said: "This is a precautionary measure. These ingredients are not effective on children under two and parents are tempted to give more to their children or to mix them with other things that can cause overdose.

"What we are recommending is that parents use single ingredient treatments, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen."

Families will also be advised to return to traditional cough and cold treatments, such as glycerol, honey or lemon for a cough and vapour rubs for a stuffy nose.

The MHRA spokesman added: "It is not a panic measure, it is a precaution.

"Some of these products have been on the shelves for 40 years and we have not had as many adverse reactions as the Americans have."

In January, the US Food and Drug Administration told parents not to use over-the-counter cough medicines on children under two because there "have not been shown to be safe or effective".

Source - The Telegraph

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