I am a big fan of Grey’s Anatomy but my favorite character in the show is not Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) or even the hunk Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). It’s the tough but motherly Dr. Miranda Bailey, played so convincingly by award-winning actress Chandra Wilson. Which is why I was so excited to represent BOL in a telephone conference with Chandra earlier today.

It all started when I wrote a post on the “Treat with Care” campaign of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA). CHPA is a not-for-profit association representing the makers of over-the-counter (OTC) products, including medicines and nutritional supplements, and the consumers who rely on these healthcare products. “Treat with Care” is a public service announcement on the proper and safe use of OTC drugs, especially cough and cold drugs in children.

If we track back, several adverse events were reported back in 2007 in connection with cough and cold medicines, some of which were fatal. The reported adverse events made health authorities look at the safety of the said medicines. In October 2007, the FDA Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee convened for a discussion of the safety and effectiveness of cough and cold drug products especially when used  in children under the age of 2. New FDA OTC products recommendations came out in January 2008 and were updated in October 2008.

I can imagine that many parents got scared by those reports in 2007. However, OTC medicines are normally very safe because the US FDA will only give OTC marketing approval for a drug if it has a proven track record of safety. Adverse events are very rare and are mostly due to accidental ingestion or inappropriate use (e.g. overdose, interactions with other drugs.)

OTC drug manufacturers responded to this issue by

• Changing the labels (package insert).
• Launching “Treat with Care” through CHPA, an educational campaign and information drive to prevent serious adverse events from happening again.

And Chandra Wilson is in the frontline of this initiative. And to get the message loud clear to parents, what better way to do it than chat with blogger moms?

So how did it feel like talking to Chandra?

Talking to her thousands of miles away from another continent in another time zone was really cool. It’s not my first phone conference but definitely my first to involve a celebrity. But you know what? She was so easy to talk to.

As Dr. Bailey, she is the surgeon, the medical authority, the mentor who puts residents and interns twice her size in their places. At the phone conference, she was just a mom like many of us. A working mom, worrying about coughs and sniffles. A mom who takes her kids to work at spring break. Who listens to other moms’ concerns and answer their questions. How refreshing. At the same time she was also convinced of and committed to the public service campaign she is doing.

So there we were, 4 blogger moms, and a representative of CHPA (another mom) and Chandra Wilson (yet another mom), chatting and laughing about the balancing act of motherhood and work and medicines safety. Before I knew it, the 30-minute conference was over.

But before I forget, I have to pass on the message that Chandra also passed on to us today. How do we treat our children with care?

• Read the drug label/package insert thoroughly and follow the instructions in it.
• Do not use OTC medicines on kids under 4.
• Do not use OTC medicines to make kids sleepy.
• Do not give a medicine only intended for adults to a child.
• Use the right medicine for the right symptoms.
• Use the right dose with the right dosing or measuring device.
• Do not mix medicines with the same active ingredients.
• Keep medicines out of reach AND OUT of SIGHT of children.
• Avoid mixing medicine with juice or milk to avoid possible interactions.
• Call your pediatrician if you have any questions.

You think you know all of these already? Maybe. Maybe not. But accidents can and do happen and as Chandra Wilson said, we need to reinforce things that we already know. For the sake of our kids.

The FDA issued a warning today advising parents to not give over the counter cough and cold medicines to infants and toddlers because of the risk of “serious and life threatening side effects that can occur”.

In October of last year, drug companies stopped selling certain versions of baby medicines. Later that same month, FDA advisors voted that the drugs didn’t work in infants and suggested that such drugs not even be used for pre-schoolers–meaning children up to age 6. Expect a formal ruling on the use of such medications in preschoolers and elementary school children to be publicized some time in spring.

Why issue a warning now? The FDA is concerned that parents have not gotten the message and that they may currently have such medicines at home, or that they may use other medicines designed for older children to medicate their infants. Also, decades ago, when these medications were first developed, scientists thought that what worked in an adult automatically would work in an infant.

Right now, specialists are advising parents who have infants with colds and coughs to rely on old fashioned remedies which include–plenty of love, rest, and liquids.