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Volume 357:2321-2324 December 6, 2007 Number 23 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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In recent weeks, over-the-counter cough and cold medications for children have received unprecedented attention from regulators, physicians, the media, and parents. This scrutiny represents a long-overdue reassessment of products that were purchased by 39% of U.S. households during the past 3 years.¹ It also reflects an important evolution in the standard of evidence for medications used in children.

Over-the-counter cough and cold preparations include various combinations of antihistamines, decongestants, antitussives, and expectorants. There is no standard for describing these products; two products marketed similarly may have different types of ingredients (see table). Consumers purchase about 95 million packages of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

Dr. Sharfstein is the commissioner of health for Baltimore; Ms. North is a medical student at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore; and Dr. Serwint is a professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore. The authors are the lead signers of the petition to the FDA on over-the-counter cough and cold medications.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Schaefer, M. K., Shehab, N., Cohen, A. L., Budnitz, D. S. (2008). Adverse Events From Cough and Cold Medications in Children. Pediatrics 121: 783-787 [Abstract] [Full Text]