Tuesday, the drug industry has announced that over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medicine was to be relabeled in order to warn against it being used on children under the age of four.

Currently, the drugs are said to be safe to be given to all children aged six or younger, although pediatricians claim there has been no proof on whether they worked or not for the aforementioned category.

President of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association Linda Suydam has revealed that the relabeling was not prompted by criticism and opposition coming from doctors, but by the industry’s desire to be over-cautious concerning the matter.

Nonprescription, over-the-counter medicines and nutritional supplements manufacturers have also informed that they would be adding a warning to their products’ labels, urging parents not to give their children antihistamines, which are used to cure allergic reactions, in order to make them sleepy.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association has stated that the measure to relabel the OTC cough and cold medicine came as a means to prevent overdosage of the drugs, which has become more and more frequent in young children.

Earlier this month, pediatricians have expressed their concerns about the use of the medicine on children younger than eleven years old to the Food and Drug Administration, urging the latter to recall the OTC drugs. Furthermore, this year, federal health officials issued a warning with regards to the treatment of younger than two years of age children with the cough and cold medicines.