Dumbing Down the World

[crokett]

Personal responsibility takes another step back. Kids' cold medicines are being withdrawn. Not because they are harmful but because people can't (or won't) follow dosage rates.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/11...ugs/index.html

I have a 3yr old and a 7mo old. We have 5 different syringes and cups in our medicine cabinet that come pre-marked with the dosage amounts. Wally World even gave me one for the infant where you can't fill it any more than a certain amount, so you'd have to work hard to overdose your child.

[Uncle Cracker]

This doesn't make a lot of sense. Just about any medicine can be harmful if dosing instructions are not followed. What are they gonna do next... ban all kid's medicines? What this means is that the same parents who were too stupid to follow the instructions on the kids' bottles will now be giving the adult-strength stuff to the kids instead.

[ragswl4]

Personal responsibility takes another step back. Kids' cold medicines are being withdrawn. Not because they are harmful but because people can't (or won't) follow dosage rates.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/11...ugs/index.html

54 children's deaths due to overdose of cold medicine and 69 children's deaths due to antihistimine overdoses. The real question should be are there 123 parents charged with child endangerment or worse? Probably not, just withdraw all the medicine for the other 500 million children whose parents are not on Darwin's List.

This world is going WHACKO, one tiny step at a time.

[Black wallnut]

54 children's deaths due to overdose of cold medicine and 69 children's deaths due to antihistimine overdoses. The real question should be are there 123 parents charged with child endangerment or worse? Probably not, just withdraw all the medicine for the other 500 million children whose parents are not on Darwin's List.

This world is going WHACKO, one tiny step at a time.

Yep that's 54 in 4 decades or for those that cna't read the label 40 years! Consumers should exprees their dis-approval of these drug companies!
Using this same flawed thinking these very same companies (the same companies that make medicines make pesticides) should voluntarily withdraw the herbacide 2,4D since it also has been over applied by those unwilling or unable to read the label. A small difference is that many weeds have built up a tolerance for 2,4d so it is simply just not effective any more.

[linear]

Consider that your news coverage is also probably dumbed down.

NPR had some related coverage earlier this month. As it happens, a lot of cold medicines have not been shown to be more effective than placebos. At the time they were approved, they weren't required to prove that. Studies done recently show them fairly equivalent to placebos.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=14971288

If you bother to click the video link in the CNN piece, he pretty clearly states that the medicines are considered ineffective. The story doesn't mention that (it implies otherwise actually) and that bugs me a lot.

[crokett]

If you bother to click the video link in the CNN piece, he pretty clearly states that the medicines are considered ineffective. The story doesn't mention that (it implies otherwise actually) and that bugs me a lot.

I beg to differ on the medicine's ineffectiveness, at least for my kids. They are 3 and 7mos. AFIK that is too young (certainly 7mos is) to be aware of the placebo effect. The 7mo old doesn't know what she is taking and the 3yr old doesn't like taking medicine. After having them both sick multiple times in the last 6 weeks I can tell you they eat (and sleep) better with medicine. I know this because I sleep better - am not woken up in the middle of the night.

[Russianwolf]

I think this is darwinism at it's best.......

Parents too stupid to read the label and dose accordingly shouldn't have bred in the first place, good thing they are taking out their offspring before they have a chance to breed themselves......

(said tongue in cheek, I don't like seeing kids hurt either)

I still say that cold medicine with alcohol was good enough for me, it's good enough for kids today. Heck, the booze helps them sleep, which helps out everyone.

[ragswl4]

Consider that your news coverage is also probably dumbed down.

NPR had some related coverage earlier this month. As it happens, a lot of cold medicines have not been shown to be more effective than placebos. At the time they were approved, they weren't required to prove that. Studies done recently show them fairly equivalent to placebos.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=14971288

If you bother to click the video link in the CNN piece, he pretty clearly states that the medicines are considered ineffective. The story doesn't mention that (it implies otherwise actually) and that bugs me a lot.

The video actually states the the medicines are ineffective for children 2 years of age and under. Doesn't refer older childrens age groups.

[linear]

I beg to differ

My point isn't really about the medicine--that's for researchers to figure out.

My point is that it's a fairly complex issue being covered in a fairly superficial way by CNN.

From your original post, you clearly took away from the article that the reason the medicines were being withdrawn was that people couldn't follow dosages.

Fair play, the article does say that near the top. But note that that's the point of view of an industry spokesperson. Someone from the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. Not the FDA or a doctor of any type.

The FDA is being asked by a group of concerned doctors to label the products as not safe for kids. Does the industry want that? Heck no--so they pull all the products who are almost certain to get relabeled as unsafe, and issue a press release. The stated reason for pulling them is not necessarily the reason for pulling them.

How likely would you be to buy a bottle of cough syrup for children under 2 with a prominent label stating it's not effective and shouldn't be given to children under age 6?

[TB Roye]

My Dad's medicne for bad colds was, Vic's on the chest with a warm towel and glass of hot Black Berry Brandy, Honey and Lemon juice. Woked every time. I used it a few times on my kids (not infants or Toddlers) and it helped them even LOML has had it a few time. Don't know how good it is as medicne but after drinking it you don't care and you sleep and wake up felling pretty good.

Tom

[Tom Slick]

On a similar note; they are recalling pot pies right now because people don't follow the cooking directions and are getting sick. Cooked correctly = not sick.

[MilDoc]

Actually, children under 2 have died, or wound up in ERs or call to poison control, not just from overdoses but from the correct doses! And the "reason" they sleep better is due to the antihistamine's sedative effect, not because they alleviate the cold. There is absolutely no study that shows their "effectiveness" for colds.

Believe it or not, folks, most c**p sold over the counter is there for profit, not for your health. And most contain exactly the same drugs. Be honest ---- how many of you ever look at the ingredients?

[Slik Geek]

Be honest ---- how many of you ever look at the ingredients?

I always do - because it's the active ingredient that I'm looking for. I'm not interested in a catchy marketing phrase.

It does seem like the pendulum has swung well into the over-paranoid arena. A little while back, Phenylpropanolamine HCL was removed from OTC medications because of concern over increased incidence of strokes. From what I saw of the study, the sample size was too small to make a determination that it was "unsafe".

Unfortunately for me, the remaining OTC decongestant, Phenylephrine HCL, simply doesn't help the symptoms for which I seek a decongestant. (It simply makes me pee continuously and prevents me from sleeping).

Back to my paranoia complaint. Until the FDA frowned upon Phenylpropanolamine HCL (PPA), billions of doses were consumed in the United States each year, making PPA one of the most commonly used non-prescription medications.

In the twenty years leading up to the study, about 30 cases of cranial hemorrage was reported after taking PPA. 30 possible cases out of 1,000,000,000+ doses!! Compared to most medications, that's pretty safe.

The study that ended PPA found that out of 702 stroke cases, 3.8% had used PPA in the three days prior to the stroke, compared to 2.4% using PPA in the control group that didn't have strokes. That 1.4% difference was the evidence that resulted in the removal of PPA. (33/1376 in the control group had taken PPA, 27/702 in the stroke group had taken PPA).

My point is that the evidence, in my opinion, was too close in too small of a sample size to make a decision to stop the sale of PPA. At least one earlier study had found no link between PPA and strokes. We as a nation have gotten paranoid.

[linear]

Actually, children under 2 have died, or wound up in ERs or call to poison control, not just from overdoses but from the correct doses!

[...]

Be honest ---- how many of you ever look at the ingredients?

Every single one in my cabinet says Under 2 years: consult physician for the dose. I read all the labels and the insert material too.

[leehljp]

Believe it or not, folks, most c**p sold over the counter is there for profit, not for your health. And most contain exactly the same drugs. Be honest ---- how many of you ever look at the ingredients?

My wife and I both do. I look at "Over the counter" medicines and compare the different ingredients and then ask the pharmacist what the difference is and what would be best for different situations.


Because some people in our organization go to places where the nearest doctor might be two days travel away, or in third world countries with poor medical information, equipment, medicine or medical practices, we are provided a course on medical needs and books. All of this is geared in a "use common sense" approach, follow instructions, look for this or that.

My wife is the best at finding out what reactions and side effects that certain medicines have. While the country that we are in has some of the best medicines and medical equipment in the world, this is still a very fatalistic society, and that permeates the medical community. LOML is diabetic and as such checks out medicines and side effects regularly. This is well known among our co-workers and she gets calls on illnesses and medicines regularly. One alarming thing is that most of our younger co-workers just seem to have no clue or common sense in illnesses, medicines or usage.

The facts are out there; finding them is not hard.

My first incursion into prescription versus over the counter (OTC) use was when my father died in '96. My back was hurting terrible at the funeral home and I could hardly stand straight. A cousin recommended to me to take 4 OTC ibuprofen tablets because OTC tablets were half the dosage of prescription tablets. I did and was amazed at how well it helped.

HERE is where common sense comes in: I did not and do not use that dosage regularly or often. Probably 3 or 4 times a year, I will use that dosage once or twice in 24 to 48 hour period at the most. I rarely take even small dosage if I can help it.