Sedating children - Misusing pain drugs

It would be convenient but wrong to dismiss the report that parents administer pain relief drugs to their children incorrectly as a consequence of the stresses of modern life.

The Irish Medical Journal reports that up to one third of Irish parents use Calpol, Nurofen, Paralink, or Dozol to try to control — sedate — children in situations beyond the drugs’ normal use, such as when a child is misbehaving or needs to relax on a long journey.

Research in the area has led to calls for greater restrictions on the sale of various drugs and suggests that the limits recently placed on codeine sales would be appropriate.

However, responsible use, and not misuse, of these drugs would be by far a better option.

Imagine the outcry if parents were misusing alcohol to control their children in this way.