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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: 2) by Aiwendil on Saturday April 22 2017, @04:22PM

    by Aiwendil (531) on Saturday April 22 2017, @04:22PM (#497956) Journal

    Tramadol is an opioid (roughly the same strength as codeine) and are one of the weakest in clinical use (since you use non-opioids if you can).

    Wikipedia has a nice summary [wikipedia.org] of painkillers.

    Opiates are the (natural) subset that occur in opium, opioids are the superset. (Easy mnemonic are "opioids are alkaloids", and just remember that chemistry is a younger field than opium-usage)

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