Cold and flu season is upon us.  When we're unlucky enough to come down with something, it's almost second nature to reach a multi-symptom cold medicine.  New findings show that, when it comes to children, parents should think twice before giving such medications to their children.

Last year, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced that eading manufacturers of pediatric cough and cold medicines are adding a warning to their products' labels, "Don't use over-the-counter pediatric cough and cold medicines in children younger than 4."  FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Janet Woodcock, MD, says FDA supports the label "change" and drug manufacturers are doing this voluntarily.

 

 The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends that over-the-counter cough and cold medications not be given to infants and children younger than 2 years because of the risk of life-threatening side effects. Also, several studies show that cold and cough products don't work in children younger than 6 years and can have potentially serious side effects.

 

The New York Times recently reported results of a new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study on unintentional medication overdoses in children which "indicates 8 percent of emergency room visits and 14 percent of hospitalizations were caused by parents accidentally overdosing their children."

 

The study, which looks at causes for emergency room visits, estimates that 70,000 children under 18 years of age visit emergency rooms annually suffering from unintentional medication overdoses causing adverse drug events. More importantly, 75 percent of the overdoses occurred in children under age 5.

 

CDC's web page on child medication safety further indicates that the number one cause of emergency room visits due to adverse drug events in young children under the age of 5 is the unsupervised consumption of medicines.  CDC also notes, according to WebMD, that 7,000 children under 11 go to emergency rooms each year after taking cough and cold medicines. Roughly two-thirds of those adverse drug events occurred after children consumed medication while unsupervised.

There's nothing I find more senseless than children being seriously injured or dying as a result of a well known, and easily fixable, hazard.  Last year, I wrote about the strangulation danger posed by a common household item -- window blinds and shades.  Since then, three more kids have died, and there is another recall.  The recall covers 4.2 million roll-up blinds with plastic slats made by Lewis Hyman Inc.; 600,000 Woolrich Roman shades; blinds and shades made by Vertical Land Inc. of Panama City Beach, Fla.; Roman shades by Pottery Barn Kids/Williams-Sonoma Inc.; 245,000 Lutron Shading Solutions fabric roller shades; 163,000 Roman shades by Victoria Classics; and IKEA is recalling 120,000 MELINA Roman Blinds.  The LA Times has a good article about the problem and the recall.

This is so infuriating.  This problem has been recognized for decades, yet shades and blinds are still being produced with this dangerous problem.  A group called Parents for Window Blind Safety has an informative website that focuses on correcting the danger.  It also brings the tragedy home as it shows the many children who have died as a result of these products.

The best solution for parents is to purchase cordless blinds.  Go here for available types, or ask for them at your local home improvement center.  If you have purchased these blinds, go to the CPSC to find out what to do.  At the very least, parents should cut cord loops of existing blinds in half, never leave your children unattended in a room with these blinds, and NEVER put a crib or play yard in the vicinity of a blind. 

The CDC has released a report on child injuries which is fascinating and very instructive.  I'll write on this in greater detail over the next few weeks, but I highly recommend that parents take a look at the report for themselves.  One very sobering statistic - every day in the United States, 20 children die as a result of preventable injuries.  This is higher than the number of deaths from all childhood diseases combined.  Go to the next page for other highlights.

Just in time for Christmas, an organization called W.A.T.C.H. (World Against Toys Causing Harm) has released its annual list of the top 10 worst toys.  What amazes me is that all of the hazards here have long been established -- choking hazards, projectiles that can damage eyes, etc - yet these dangerous toys still reach the market.  There is no approval or evaluation process by any government agency for toys - the CPSC only steps in when a problem is identified.  Please go to the next page for the list. 

Click here for a list of the worst toys of all time (complete with Lawn Darts).  These would be funny if not for the fact that each of these put thousands of kids needlessly at risk.

Some hazards are obviously dangerous to kids - the Drano under the sink, a pot of boiling water on the stove, or a car backing out of the driveway.  Those are things we as parents intuitively know can be dangerous to our kids, so we take precautions such as cabinet locks and stove guards to protect them. 

Not all hazards are so obvious, but they can be just as dangerous.  Window blinds are a great example.  They seem innocent enough, and it certainly doesn't seem like a child could hurt himself (or herself) if left alone with one.  Yet, the cords on certain window blinds can present a serious strangulation hazard to young children.  Over the years, hundreds of boys and girls have been seriously injured and even killed by becoming entangled and then strangled by window blind cords.

On Thursday, the CPSC issued two recall alerts.  Popular furniture maker IKEA is recalling its IRIS and ALVINE Roman Blinds, and Green Mountain Vista Inc of Williston, Vt. is recalling its Insulated Black-Out Roller Shades and Insulated Roman Shades. This past April, a one year old girl in Greenwich, Ct.tragically died as a result of strangulation by the cord of an IKEA blind.  She was found in her playpen with the cord from a nearby fully lowered blind wrapped twice around her neck.  This past June, a two year old girl from Bristol, Ct, was nearly strangled by a Green Mountain Vista blind when she placed a cord loop around her neck and then fell.  Luckily, she was saved by her brother.

Recently, there has been controversy over the safety and efficacy of many cough and cold medicines for young children.   Last year, the FDA.issued a public health advisory warning against the use of such medicines for children under two.  In October, manufacturers voluntarily changed the labeling and warnings to state that these medicines should not be given to children under four.

The CPSC has recalled over 13 cribs and bassinets since the first of the year.  Many feel that the CPSC is not aggressive enough in its recall measures, and that it is not sufficient to permit manufacturers to simply issue retrofit kits to satisfy the recalls.  The Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, has taken matters into her own hands, and should be commended for her actions.

Here's what's happened.  A company called Simplicity has had a lot of problems with recalls over the last year, some as a result of infant deaths.  Due to the recalls, Simplicity was forced into bankruptcy.  A company called SFCA, Inc, purchased the assets of Simplicity. That's fine, except it appears that the only thing SFCA wanted to do was reap profits, and did not seem particularly interested in helping to save the lives of children.  SFCA would not cooperate whatsoever with the CPSC recalls.  Given that children's lives are at stake, Madigan did not feel that the CPSC's response to SFCA was sufficient, so she undertook her own action to force SFCA to stop marketing these dangerous cribs.  She's to be applauded.

AG Madigan has also put out a very useful guide for identifying which cribs have recently been recalled, as well as safe sleeping tips for infants.

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Apparently the CPSC has copied my Halloween tips idea.  Seriously though, they did issue a press release yesterday - much of it is similar to my tips below, but they offer some additional suggestions that are worth checking out.

Also, my 7 year old daughter, Jane, wanted me to say that in addition to the flashlights, they will be wearing blinking necklaces for visibility.  I'll let you know what luck I have getting her and her sister to wear a coat over their costumes if it's cold.

Given all that is known about crib safety, and how long the industry has known about potential hazards, it amazes me that we still have a problem with dangerous cribs.  Over the last month, there have been four crib recalls, all for entrapment and suffocation hazards.  As is too often the case, it took the death or serious injury of a child for these recalls to happen.  The recalled cribs are:

• The Playkids U.S.A. convertible crib/playpen/bassinet/bed,
• Delta drop side cribs manufactured prior to 2006
• Additional Delta Drop Side Cribs
  
• Simplicity Brand Drop Side Cribs
  

The Delta recall involves over 1,500,000 cribs.  The danger involves missing or failing safety pegs for the drop rails.  The CPSC is aware of two deaths and other instances of entrapment involving these cribs.