WASHINGTON - Very young children simply should not take some commonly used cold and cough medicines, federal health officials say in recommending that the “consult your physician” advice to parents on the labels be dropped.
The preliminary recommendation, from Food and Drug Administration safety officials, would apply to decongestant use in children under 2, and antihistamines in those younger than 6, according to agency documents released Friday.
The more than 350 pages of documents are part of a broad and ongoing FDA examination of whether the roughly 800 medicines, many popular and widely used, are safe and effective in treating children’s colds and coughs....
