Cough and cold medicines containing codeine or hydrocodone must not be prescribed to children because the risks outweigh the benefits, according to a safety announcement by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is encouraging doctors to reassure parents that most childhood coughs and colds are self-limiting and do not need treatment.
Cough and cold medicines containing opioids can still be prescribed for adults. But warning labels will be added to these medicines highlighting the risks of misuse, addiction, breathing problems, overdose, and death.
See Management: approachProfessor
Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care
University of Auckland
Auckland
New Zealand
BA is an author of a number of references cited in this monograph.
Associate Professor of Integrated Care
Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care
University of Auckland
Auckland
New Zealand
TK is an author of a number of references cited in this monograph.
Senior Research Fellow
Division of Community Health Sciences
St. George's University of London
London
UK
CC declares that he has no competing interests.
Professor
Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine
Bond University
Queensland
Australia
CDM declares that he has no competing interests.
Associate Professor
Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care
Ghent University
Belgium
ADS declares that she has no competing interests.
Mary Lowell Leary Endowed Professor
General Internal Medicine
Paediatrics
Mayo Clinic
Rochester
MN
GP has no competing interests in regards to the common cold. He does consult with a variety of manufacturers and performs research studies related to influenza, founded by vaccine manufacturers, none of which involves virus related to the common cold.
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Director
Intensive Care Unit
Weiler Division/Montefiore Medical Center
Bronx
NY
PD has served as a consultant to Reckitt Benckiser, Procter & Gamble, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Glaxo SmithKline, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
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