The article F.D.A. Panel Urges Ban on Medicine for Child Colds, written by Gardiner Harris (New York Times, October 20, 2007), describes how an advisory panel from the Food and Drug
Administration voted to ban over-the-counter cold medicine for children under age 6. There were actually two votes taken. The panel voted 21-1 to ban medicine for children under two, and 13-9 for children between two and five. The reasoning of this panel was that medicine is not effective and can actually have negative effects. This ban will have a drastic effect on pharmacies and companies nationwide if put into effect. However, manufactures of the medicine claimed they would fight against this ban. The FDA then has the choice to accept or decline this ban. The second vote was close, so the agency might feel there was too much uncertainty and may decline the ban. Therefore, the FDA is clearly in a predicament, being pressured from both sides. The panel obviously wants this ban to be put into actions, whereas companies will strongly oppose the ban because it will cause a loss in sales. The issue presented here is whom should the FDA agree with to make this decision. Should the FDA agree with the advisory panel or the companies and doctors?
2 comments:
I think that the F.D.A panel should ban the medicines used on children especially if they are not relieving the symptoms of children. These medecines are an unnecessary cost and can be deadly if the wrong dose is given. I think that banning these medicines for children would be beneficial because then childrens bodies can fight the diseases off naturally and there will be no chance of an overdose. I also see others point of view. If there are no over the counter children medications then parents may start giving there children adult medecines which can be deadly if given too much as well. Medecine is a thing that is commonly misused and parents should be informed in this area.
If there is no proof that over the counter medicines improve symptoms of the common cold in children, and if they are misused, they should absolutely be taken off the market. Although it may have a serious effect on the drug companies, no ammount of money can justify the death of a child. If I was a parent and I read this article, I would stop giving those products to my child immediately reguardless of what the F.D.A. decides to do. Any toy that my cause harm to a child is immediately recalled, the same should apply to medicine. Some parents are not responsible/intelligent enough to give the right dosage. They should not even have the chance of messing that up.
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