President Obama will take away kids cold medicine
Made you look.
The headline is a cheap shot but the point behind it is both real and serious. Your kid's life may be on the line.
Consumer groups and medical experts, who would likely head agencies like the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) under an Obama Administration, were in Washington yesterday asking that over the counter cold medicines not be given to kids under six without a prescription.
The FDA, still run by Republicans, said no. They recommended no meds for kids under two last year, and that is as far as they will go. They won't proscribe or force anyone to prescribe before giving these drugs to kids.
UPDATE: The industry has tried to get ahead of the issue this week by agreeing to stop trying to sell its wares for children age four and younger.
Should Democrats win next month expect this issue to be revisited, because over 7,000 kids go to emergency rooms for reactions to over the counter cold medicines each year. Yet one-tenth of all kids wind up getting them.
Pediatricians are already being told they should recommend plenty of fluids, saline drops, and perhaps IB or Tylenol drops if there is fever. Patience is also in order. Most colds go away after a week.
This is a dispute between science and a "do no harm" attitude on the one hand, with business and a "do good" attitude on the other.
It's a tough deal, when a kid is crying, to say run your nose and be miserable a while, because we can't be sure how certain medicines might interact in your little body.
But that is the safest course. You need to know that. And if it takes a political hook to bring you back to that, that's a price which must be paid.
Next year I'll use a pumpkin.