Given the slow response to this health threat, the AAP decided to make a “stronger push” against the use of codeine in children, report author Joseph Tobias, M.D., chief of anesthesiology and pain medicine for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, told HealthDay.
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The authors argue that because of the way codeine is metabolized in the body, it can have variable and potentially unsafe effects for children, leading to respiratory depression, even death.
“Now, lo and behold, we’re learning that due to this genetic variation it’s a very unsafe medication”, Tobias added. Certain individuals, especially children and those with obstructive sleep apnea, are “ultra-rapid metabolizers” and may experience severely slowed breathing rates or even die after taking standard doses of codeine.
A report published in Healio informed, “Parents and health care providers are encouraged to stop administering codeine to children aged younger than 18 years as either an analgesic or antitussive, due to growing evidence linking the common painkiller to life-threatening or fatal respiratory reactions in pediatric settings, according to an AAP clinical report”. Studies suggest it is still commonly prescribed by doctors and dentists despite the risks and lack of evidence that it works to relieve coughs.
Health officials at the American Academy of Pediatrics say that this new research is not addressed only to parents whose children are under eighteen years of age.
The academy’s advice is contained in its Monday edition of the medical journal, Pediatrics.
A recent review by the United Sates Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of potentially risky side effects in kids using codeine, identified 64 cases of severe slowed breathing rates and 24 deaths related to the drug, including 21 deaths in children under 12.
Given the slow response to this health threat, the AAP decided to make a “stronger push” against the use of codeine in children, Tobias explained. Dr. David Turkewitz, with WellSpan York Hospital, said you should never use the drug.
Codeine is a “prodrug”, meaning it has to be converted to an active form by your body to have its effects.
Dr. Sniderman says that when it comes to children and pain relief, a child’s safety is the most important factor. Doctors mainly rely on acetaminophen, ibuprofen or NSAIDs like aspirin to treat children’s pain these days, Tobias said.
Doctors specializing in ear, nose and throat problems were the most likely to prescribe the drug, with 19.6% of the 800,000 prescriptions given by these specialists.
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“In day-to-day general pediatrics, there’s no reason for me to be prescribing these on a regular basis”, she added.
