Infant Cough Medicines Pulled From Shelves

A number of cough and cold remedies aimed at very young children are being removed from shop shelves due to concerns over accidental overdoses.

The Medicine and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has ordered that six products - Asda Children's Chesty Cough Syrup; Boots Chesty Cough Syrup 1 Year Plus; Boots Sore Throat and Cough Linctus 1 Year Plus; Buttercup Infant Cough Syrup; CalCough Chesty; and Children's Chesty Cough - be removed from sale for children aged under two.

However, the regulator said that the medicines could still be supplied under the supervision of a pharmacist for older children.

More remedies will also be taken off the shelves so that they can be repackaged to include advice that they should not be given to children aged under two.

Until these changes can be made, the medicines will be kept behind chemist counters and anyone asking for them will be questioned about the age of the children who is ill, before the product is sold.

The move follows concerns about certain medicines in the US after parents gave children the wrong dose or more than one product containing the same ingredient.

The ingredients which have caused the concerns are: brompheniramine, chlorphenamine, diphenhydramine, dextromethorphan, pholcodine, guaifenesin, ipecacuanha, phenylephrine, pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, oxymetazoline and xylometazoline.

MHRA spokesperson Sara Coakley said: "It's a precautionary measure. They are not dangerous.

"If they had been dangerous, we'd have had them off the market in seconds. Nobody should panic. There's nothing wrong with these medicines, it was the way that they had been given."

Ms Coakley said that the medicines could be dangerous if a child was given more than the recommended dose or were given more than one product at the same time.

She said: "Children under two are particularly susceptible because of their small size so can be at risk of overdose."

She admitted that there had been an increase in "adverse reactions" to the products, but said that they had been more widely observed in the US where improved packaging had since been introduced.

Parents are being advised instead to treat children suffering from a cold with paracetamol or ibuprofen in order to lower their temperature and to use a simple cough syrup, such as glycerol, honey or lemon. Nasal saline drops are recommended to help thin and clear nasal secretions in young babies, who have difficulty feeding as a result of being ill.

Vapour rubs and inhalant decongestants, which can be applied to a child's clothing, can also be used to provide relief from a stuffy nose.

(KMcA)