After two days of deliberation an FDA Panel has recommend that the FDA ban cold remedies for kids. I mentioned in a March blog that the Baltimore health commissioner was going to ask the FDA to do this after multiple child and infant deaths. Now an FDA panel is recommending a ban.  

From Friday’s article:

"When a treatment is ineffective, medical its risks – if not zero – always will exceed its benefits," said Dr. Michael Shannon, a Children’s Hospital Boston pediatrician and Harvard Medical School professor who was another of the petitioners.

From Today’s article:

The panel’s vote is a reminder that many of the drugs
Americans commonly use have never been examined closely
and may not work. Standards for clinical trials have
changed dramatically over the last 30 years, but thousands
of drugs presently sold were approved under older, less
stringent standards.

Usually, but not always, the FDA acts on the recommendation of its panels. Hopefully they will do the right thing.

In my March blog, I list things that parents can do if their child has a cold or flu.

From Friday’s PD: Don’t give infants cold medicine

From Today’s:  FDA panel plays safe rather than sorry