Pediatricians Say Codeine Is Not Safe For Children

Codeine is not safe to give to kids. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement this week urging parents and doctors to stop giving children under the age of 18 both prescription and over-the-counter medications that include codeine, such as cough syrup and pain relievers.  “People have this very false misconception about codeine, thinking that it’s safer than other opioids,” Dr. Joseph Tobias, one of the study’s lead authors, told The Huffington Post. “Our whole push for writing this manuscript was to educate clinicians and push regulatory boards to pull codeine off the market for pediatric patients.” In a review article published in the October issue of Pediatrics which prompted the AAP’s statement, leading U.S. researchers found codeine to be linked to rare but life-threatening and fatal breathing reactions in children. The study highlighted U.S. Food and Drug Administration data on adverse effects of both codeine and combined codeine and acetaminophen medications. Adverse effects reported to the FDA included 64 cases of severe respiratory depression and 24 codeine-related deaths ― 21 of which were in children under 12 ― over a 50-year period. Despite this, codeine is still found in over-the-counter cough suppressants in 28 states and the District of Columbia. According to the AAP’s statement, 800,000 children under the age of 11 were prescribed codeine between 2007 and 2011. Ear, nose and t...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news