Washington - Manufacturers of non-prescription pediatric cough and cold medicines are advising parents not to give them to children under four years old, consumer group announced.
A statement by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association said: "Leading manufacturers of these medicines are voluntarily transitioning the labeling on over-the-counter pediatric cough and cold medicines to state 'do not use in children under four years of age'."
The announcement comes a week after federal authorities said they had little data on the benefits of such medicines for very young children.
But the US Food and Drug Administration decided not to pull them from the market, fearing parents might begin administering adult cough and cold medicine to their children if they did so.
The group said labels on the pediatric medicines would continue to carry dosing instructions for children four and above.
Products with existing labeling would not be removed from store shelves but would gradually be replaced with products containing the new labels and packaging, it said.
The statement said manufacturers were also adding language to labels of products containing antihistamines, warning parents not to give them to children to make them sleepy.
Pharmaceutical firms stopped marketing them for children younger than two in January 2008 after the FDA warned of the serious risk such medicines pose for that age group.
American pediatricians welcomed the move, although they would like to see it extended for children up to the age of five.
The FDA is currently studying the effectiveness of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for children under the age of 12, but a decision could be a year away. - AFP