Parents urged to beware safety of medicines for children

The Taiwan Health Reform Foundation yesterday called for parents to beware the safety of the medicines prescribed by doctors for children, lest their children should suffer from redundant or problematic medicines.

The foundation issued the call when releasing the results of its survey at a press conference.

Doctors in Taiwan generally prescribe redundant and too high doses of medicines for children, which is potentially harmful to children's health, officials with the foundation said.

Of the total of 15 prescriptions sampled by the foundation, 13 were determined to be improper, according to the survey.

Eleven of the prescriptions contained at least five kinds of medicines, with some even containing as many of 13 kinds of medicines.

As many of the medicines prescribed are compound drugs, 10 of the surveyed prescriptions contained a mix of more than seven different ingredients, with one containing as many as 17 different ingredients.

For instance, a prescription issued by a clinic in northern Taiwan for a two-year-old child comprised of four kinds of antidiarrheal agents, two kinds of cough-remedy and expectorants, two kinds of anti-inflammatory agents and two kinds of antihistamines.

Another prescription issued by a clinic in southern Taiwan for a five year-old kid contained four kinds of cough-remedy and expectorants, three kinds of antihistamines and three kinds of sympathomimetic agents.

Meanwhile, five prescriptions contained medicines whose licenses have been revoked by the Department of Health, including cisapride, scanol, acted and periactin. In particular, cisapride was banned two years ago after deaths related to the drug were reported both at home and abroad.

Also found in the prescriptions were codeine and dexchlorpheniramin and chlorpheniramin -- two kinds of antihistamines -- that are not recommended for children under two years old.

In yet another problem discovered by the foundation, two prescriptions contained both enter-coated tablets and antacids, which are not supposed to be taken together.

Also, some prescriptions contained both antidiarrheal drugs that prohibit gastrointestinal motility and gas-relief drugs that stimulate gastrointestinal motility, according to the survey.