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posted by martyb on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:59AM   Printer-friendly
from the kill-the-pain-not-the-kid dept.

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/04/20/524376484/dont-give-kids-cough-syrup-or-pain-meds-that-contain-codeine-fda-says

The Food and Drug Administration says children under 12 should not be given prescription medicines that contain codeine or another narcotic, tramadol, and that such drugs can also be dangerous to youth between 12 and 18.

On Thursday, the FDA said it will require that prescription drugs containing codeine or tramadol carry a warning on the label against using them in children under 12 or in women who are breast-feeding. The agency cited evidence that the drugs could cause dangerously slowed breathing in some children, which could lead to death.

Multiple prescription drugs contain codeine or tramadol. For example, the painkiller Tylenol 3 contains acetaminophen and codeine. Drugs containing codeine already carry a black-box warning against using it to treat pain in children who have their tonsils removed.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @06:14AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @06:14AM (#497817)

    Pretty much any pain relieving drug is a narcotic -- and doctors prescribe those to children. It's usually all about the dosage.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @07:58AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @07:58AM (#497841)

    Not even close to true! Painkillers come in so may different varieties from the narcotic painkillers such as opioids (including Codeine, Morphine, Tramadol, etc), Non-steroidal anti inflammatories that target the cyclooxygenase type of receptors (non narcotic), and even some painkillers that work by increasing endogeneous cannabinoids (this one of the posited methods of action for Paracetamol). So no, not every painkiller is a narcotic.

    In addition to the above I'm going to say something most might not agree with, prescribing codeine to kids is perfectly fine if done so in a responsible manner for a real condition. Codeine is in a unique position among narcotic painkillers in that it is a super potent antitussive while being a rather mild analgesic. When compared to the most commonly used antitussive on the market, Dextromethorphan, codeine absolutely blows it out of the water in terms of efficacy. Yes, all opioids come with risks such as respiratory depression, bradycardia at higher doses, and in codeine's case severe allergic reactions. But when results matter, I can't think of any other antitussive that works as well. When the doses are kept low and prescriptions are kept to a limited period of time there is almost a negligible risk of dependence, especially when one considers that a parent will almost certainly be in control of administering the medication. Overdoses are also not very likely when you consider the large difference in antitussive dose (around 20mg every 6 hours for adults, the dosage will be adjusted for children based on age or weight) and the lowest reported LD50 of 12mg/kg. So with a 40 kilo 12 year old that lethal dose would be 480mg, a very high dose indeed. This brings us around to something also unique about codeine: its ceiling dose. Codeine itself is not a potent analgesic at all but is metabolized into its more potent metabolites, Codeine-6-glucuronide, morphine, and eventually morphine-6-glucuronide. These three metabolites are primarily responsible for all of codeine's effects. There is a limit to how much codeine can be converted into these metabolites however and this is known as its ceiling dose. In adults this is around 400-500mg but I am unsure what this would be in children.

    Ok so i've digressed just a bit here but my intention is to show that codeine is relatively safe as well as being extremely effective.

    Butwhatevs the FDA knows best. :|

    • (Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday April 23 2017, @01:43PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Sunday April 23 2017, @01:43PM (#498322)

      Ok so i've digressed just a bit here but my intention is to show that codeine is relatively safe as well as being extremely effective.

      Butwhatevs the FDA knows best. :|

      I'm pretty sure that "soon" we will see a miracle patented drug released precisely for that range of kids ages which is unfortunately incredibly expensive, and that's the only reason the FDA brought up the whole topic.