Do We Need a Better Food and Drug Safety System to Protect Children?

Aaargh. First the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recommendation last year against giving cold and cough medicines to children aged 2 and younger. And the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has said that these medicines don’t work and may cause dangerous side effects in kids aged 6 and under.

Recently, the FDA issued a warning to consumers about Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel and similar products because they contain zinc, which they say may cause permanent damage to nerves in the nose that are important for the sense of smell.

Because these zinc nasal swabs and sprays were considered homeopathic, they were never required to undergo FDA approval before being sold to consumers. The FDA now says the makers of Zicam must now seek FDA approval in order to continue marketing the products. (The makers of Zicam argue that their product is safe but have agreed to pull the products from the market.)

One thing is clear: we parents need a better system. Years before the FDA and AAP cold medicine warnings came out, I gave my son cold medicine when he was a toddler and preschooler. I’ve also used Zicam kids’ nasal swabs on him when he had a cold -- again, when these products were on the market for years and there wasn’t a peep about potentially-dangerous side effects.

Today, when my now-8-year-old gets a cold, I administer chicken soup, tea with honey, lots of TLC, and nothing else. But in the meantime, I’m always wondering what warnings will be issued next about products we think are safe for our kids.

Do you ever feel our government could be doing more to ensure that the products marketed for kids could be safer? Have you ever used cold medicines and zinc sprays on your kids?