Everything Is Comming Up Bad...

From Americablog:
How's deregulation working these days? Wasn't industry supposed to self-regulate? You know it's bad when the Bush FDA gets off its butt and actually says something that alerts consumers to a problem.

A chemical blamed for sickening infants in China has been found in candy on American shelves.

Connecticut consumer protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. said Wednesday that tests on White Rabbit Creamy Candy found melamine.

The candy has been found in stores in Connecticut. It was imported from China and sold primarily at Asian markets.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended last week that consumers not eat White Rabbit candy and that retailers remove it. Queensway Foods Company Inc. of California distributed the candy and says it is recalling it.

Melamine is used in plastics manufacturing and has been associated with contaminated infant formula and other Chinese products containing milk protein.

Not only is candy potentially something to make you sick, now pediatricians are requesting that the FDA recalls child's cold medicine.

Pediatricians are urging the Food and Drug Administration, which scheduled a public hearing Thursday on the issue, to demand a recall of the medicines for children younger than 6.

"Parents should know that there is less evidence than ever to support the use of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for young children," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner. "There is nothing that is holding the FDA back from asking for a voluntary recall now of products marketed to kids under 6."

Of course this will never happen since parents spend more than $286 million on this type of medicine.

It turns out that when the FDA set standards for cough and cold medicines some 30 years ago, no separate studies were done for kids.

Cough and cold medicines send about 7,000 children to hospital emergency rooms each year with symptoms ranging from hives and drowsiness to unsteady walking. Low doses of a medicine are not likely to cause a problem; the main risk comes from unintentional overdoses.

The same ingredients usually are found in different products. For example, giving a child a cough syrup and a decongestant could inadvertently lead to an overdose.

How scary is that.
Read the rest of the story here

Update: The FDA has REJECTED the request for a ban on child's cold medicine. FDA thinks people are stupid enough to give adult medicine to kids (which do not work either - see video below). Continuing story here.

Cough Medicine...

When doing research for Mikayla's cold, I came across this information on cold medicine and kids. An FDA advisory committee has determined that there is no data that states using cough and cold medicine for kids (and adults) does nothing to help. It may also be harmful.

What's the concern about cough and cold medicines for kids? Over-the-counter cough and cold medicines won't cure a common cold or make it go away any sooner. In fact, cough and cold medicines haven't been proved effective for children. And there are serious risks to consider. For example, the sedating effects of antihistamines can be dangerous for kids already having trouble breathing. For young children, an accidental overdose of cough or cold medicine could be fatal. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) encourages parents to avoid cough and cold medicines for children younger than age 2.

(via The Mayo Clinic)

After watching the video below, I have to wonder how these companies can get away with promoting this shit to parents with the knowledge that their products DON'T work. They have data that PROVES that these medicines DO NOT reduce cough or congestion in children that have colds. But these companies can still sell this stuff stating that it does work. WHY?

Below is a video from The Children's Hospital in Boston.

Sick and Tired...

After finding out that Eva had cancer last week, Mikayla started to get a cold. She seemed to have some sniffles on Saturday March 15, but nothing we were too worried about. Then Sunday came and we could tell that the cold took hold. This is her second cold and was different than her first one. Last time she was stuffed up with little nasal drainage. This time she was (is) like a faucet. We had to stop giving her solid foods because she would start to cough and then throw up everything she ate. I noticed on that Monday (when she was crying) that the back of her throat was red, so eating solids just irritated it.

So last week we took her to the doctor and found out that she had ear infections in both ears. We have started her on antibiotics to help with the infections, but now we have non-smelling poop. Why is this important? I have not been able to tell if she has gone to the bathroom like I used to.

So with Eva being sick and needing to go out a lot more than usual and Mikayla sick and needing more attention Mark and I are more tired than usual. I know that I am going to jinx us by saying this, but we have not gotten what Mikayla has/had so that has helped a great deal. What is happening now is both of us are doing school, taking care of Eva and Mikayla, trying to give as much attention to the other pups as well. So we are much more tired than ever.

The picture above is of Miss Mikayla during the worst part of this cold.