More parents confused about cough-cold treatments for kids, survey suggests

SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass. News coming out of the recent Food and Drug Administration public meeting on pediatric cough-cold medicines sold over-the-counter, as well as the recent announcement from Consumer Healthcare Products Association that manufacturers would voluntarily cease recommending use of their cough-cold products in children under the age of four, could compound pre-existing confusion among parents.

According to a survey of 606 parents (conducted by Survey.com) released by Kaz Monday, the majority of parents had already been considering not giving their children cough-cold medicine when they become sick with a cold. According to the survey, conducted six months after the FDA announced a ban of the sale of cough-cold products to children under the age of two, 70 percent of parents with children under the age of four reported they give their children cold medicine when they were sick, as do 74 percent of parents with kids under six and 80 percent of parents with children between the ages of seven and 12 old.

When asked in June if they plan to change the way they treat their children’s colds this coming season due to the January FDA warnings, more than half (64 percent) of parents who currently give their children cold medicine either plan to stop (34 percent) or are considering it (30 percent).