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Hmm....the FDA will pass a nonprescription diet drug but they'll skip over children's medicine? Fantastic!
Hmm....the FDA will pass a nonprescription diet drug but they'll skip over children's medicine? Fantastic!
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\"In addition to safety, the FDA is also going to review the drugs for effectiveness, as new studies show some cold remedies are no more effective than a placebo.\"
[sarcasm] well, as long as the cold meds get kids high and knock em out, who cares if they actually alleviate symptoms... [sarcasm/]
fda, go fuck yourself.
Some of the OTC drugs can be VERY dangerous. I would never ever give my child dextromathorpan for instance.
how does a placebo effect a child under two who wouldn't know what is supposed to happen anyway? I thought it only worked on people who knew what the drug was supposed to do.
Anyway, children's medicine should be one of the most tested as they tend to get sick more often, have weaker bodies, are still developing, and can't decide what to take on there own after doing any research.
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I was in the pharmacy the other day looking for an effective cough syrup for my young son. The very nice pharmacist told me that none of them work. In fact, most adult cough medicines don't work either.
But then again, kids are very easy to manipulate with the placebo effect. So I got an old empty bottle of childrens' medicine that I had at home, filled it with syrup and water, and told my son that it was cough medicine. And it worked.
Moral of the story -- avoid giving kids (or yourself) medicine unless it came from a doctor. Even though, be weary. Medicine is more about profit than it is about helping people.
they should just go back to old-school (early 20th cenury) elixirs that were just alcohol and/or opium. I miss the days when they made OTC meds that could kill a kid!
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Funneling
Dollars
Administration
Whoah I just made that up. Who's up for a Robitussin-bong?
We are...Penn State ^_^
When I was a student there I had a professor who told us that cough medicines were more harmful than beneficial. And just to never ever buy cough suppressant.
And bluegus32, you are so right -- a little honey on a spoon works just as well as store-bought crap if you're creative in how you present it to children (I was suckered into this for a decade because I loved Mary Poppins. Anything in a spoon worked like a charm).
Sounds like they've finally figured out the secret ingredient in Flaming Moe's.
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@kimsama:
yup. My mom makes all these home made elixirs with honey. Honey and salt. honey and garlic. It all tastes wonderfully horrible, but I'd rather take that than any OTC cough medicine.
@bluegus32: Excellent use of psychology!
My parents rarely gave me medicine unless really necessary.
I always thought the reports of the ineffectiveness of cough medicines were pretty bogus. The report basically said that \"these medicines don't cure your cough\". Well duh! They supress the cough reflex for a time. It's a temporary patch to let you sleep or to give your throat a break. I know it ain't perfect but it's generally better than nothing.
I would think they would look to test popular drugs first seeing as they affect more people.