Cough medicine kills you - FDA (Health)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

I hadn't seen this, but it's going the rounds now. There is a VERY common ingredient in a lot of cough medicines that has been proven to increase risk of strokes in women, and your FDA has advised caution for men and children as well, and recalled the ingredient. If you've got a bottle on the shelf you should check the ingredients, and ought to be able to return it free of charge, and get a refund. Details at:

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa/default.htm

Have a nice day now!

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 30, 2001

Answers

Hi Don! I read this post aprox. 12 minutes AFTER being convinced by one of my favorite neighbors to swallow 2 Tbsps of a new cough syrup... and me not much of a medicine taker in the first place. Aggh. As best I can figure from the web site you listed I am going to live - if this chest cold doesn't kill me on its own... (PS: Did you see my response to you at the end of the 'Gifts to a Horse Lover' thread? :) )

-- Leslie Coray (leslie@webolium.com), November 30, 2001.

Interesting !! Personally by the time I'll resort to that stuff I could usually care less if I lived or not..... and my wife just mentioned that if I ask for it, It is probably just a few minutes after I've asked her to shoot me.

-- scott (sbitzer@columbus.rr.com), November 30, 2001.

There are many good, safe herbal alternatives to OTC cough medicine, licorice root is one of the best. Turtle Island makes several ilquid herbal syrups for coughs and chest congestion, their Wild Cherry and Osha is one of the most effective and good tasting on the market, I keep about a quart on hand for the winter months! These contain only extracts of herbs used for coughs and congestion, they contain no ephedrine type chemicals or dyphenhydramnine at all, only safe to use herbs.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), December 02, 2001.

This seems to be upon the basis of one Yale study which contradicts earlier research on PPA and strokes. Skipping a flu vaccination is considerably more dangerous.

Here is a link to an article by Steve Milloy: Is the FDA's PPA Scare BS?

-- Mark Sykes (mark@marksykes.net), December 02, 2001.


Just thought I would comment about the flue vaccine remark. My own experience has convinced me to NOT get a flue shot each year. I had not had the flue for probably about twenty years but one year I decided that it might be smart to get the shot just to be sure I would have no allergic reaction to it while I was still relatively young (43 at the time) and because I believed it would be very important to get a flue shot when I was a senior. Guess what? That winter I got the flue. I haven't taken the flue shot since and I haven't had the flue since. Also, last winter I decided to do a very unscientific survey. All winter long whenever one of my coworkers got sick with the flue, cold, sinus, etc. when they came back to work I asked them if they had gotten a flue shot that year. Out of fifteen employees, eight got sick, all eight had gotten a flue shot. None of the employees who did not get a flue shot got sick. My theory is that while the flue shot gives you immunity to that particular type of flue, I think it compromises your immune system so you are more susceptible to contracting other illnesses or other strains of the flue. I don't intend to get a flue shot again.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), December 04, 2001.


Amusing reading the JUNK SCIENCE site discussing what drug is worse/better than the rest, which 'scientific study' proves/disproves this pharmaceutical wonder or the other.

"Skipping a flu vaccination is considerably more dangerous"

Actually, seems to me skipping the whole lot of em is the safest course. Nature knows best.......

-- Earthmama (earthmama@yahoo.com), December 04, 2001.


Colleen...my sister had the same experience. When she turned 50, her doctor convinced her to start the flu shot thing every year, since she was getting older. She had never had the flu before. For two years while she obediently took her flu shot...she came down with the flu!! Last year she skipped it and amazingly...no flu!!! So, this past year, I turned 50, and at my annual checkup last week my doctor said I ought to think about getting a flu shot. I said "no thanks!!"

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), December 04, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ