27th March 2008
Baby cough remedies pulled
Cough and cold remedies for infants will be taken off shop shelves today amid safety fears.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has banned six products specifically marketed for use on under-twos. They are Asda Children's Chesty Cough Syrup, Boots Chesty Cough Syrup One Year Plus, Boots Sore Throat and Cough Linctus One Year Plus, Buttercup Infant Cough Syrup, CalCough Chesty and Bell's Children's Chesty Cough. However these medicines can still be supplied under the supervision of a pharmacist for older children.
Around 50 further treatments will be kept behind pharmacy counters until they are repackaged with advice not to give them to children under the age of two. Anyone asking to buy them will be questioned about the age of the child.
Letters were sent to health care professionals explaining the move, which has been prompted by a reported increase in "adverse reactions" to the products in the United States.
"It's a precautionary measure. They are not dangerous," said MHRA spokesperson Sara Coakley. "Nobody should panic. There's nothing wrong with these medicines, it was the way that they had been given."
"We have been working with the British Retail Consortium [BRC] to cascade leaflets down to shopkeepers," she told More Than Business News.
The BRC said: "Retailers are following the advice given by the MHRA. Retailers have been checking their shelves to remove these products. They can, however, still be sold through pharmacies, where pharmacists can check with parents as to the suitability of these medicines."
Products with updated advice on their packaging and in the patient information leaflets will be in pharmacies and stores by October 2008.
BBC News has published a full list of products that require updated advice.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has banned six products specifically marketed for use on under-twos. They are Asda Children's Chesty Cough Syrup, Boots Chesty Cough Syrup One Year Plus, Boots Sore Throat and Cough Linctus One Year Plus, Buttercup Infant Cough Syrup, CalCough Chesty and Bell's Children's Chesty Cough. However these medicines can still be supplied under the supervision of a pharmacist for older children.
Around 50 further treatments will be kept behind pharmacy counters until they are repackaged with advice not to give them to children under the age of two. Anyone asking to buy them will be questioned about the age of the child.
Letters were sent to health care professionals explaining the move, which has been prompted by a reported increase in "adverse reactions" to the products in the United States.
"It's a precautionary measure. They are not dangerous," said MHRA spokesperson Sara Coakley. "Nobody should panic. There's nothing wrong with these medicines, it was the way that they had been given."
"We have been working with the British Retail Consortium [BRC] to cascade leaflets down to shopkeepers," she told More Than Business News.
The BRC said: "Retailers are following the advice given by the MHRA. Retailers have been checking their shelves to remove these products. They can, however, still be sold through pharmacies, where pharmacists can check with parents as to the suitability of these medicines."
Products with updated advice on their packaging and in the patient information leaflets will be in pharmacies and stores by October 2008.
BBC News has published a full list of products that require updated advice.
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